Fuk Yu, Shakespier!
by JolinarJackson
Summary: When former criminal Jack Harkness leaves prison, he discovers that the money he stole is now buried underneath a school gym. Gaining access as a teacher, Jack is split between being a conman and a role model to difficult students. His attraction to the idealistic teacher Ianto Jones makes things worse, because now it's not just Jack's freedom that's at stake, but also his heart.
1. Chapter 1

**Fuk Yu, Shakespier!**

 _Word Count:_ ~37.000

 _Summary:_ When hardened criminal Jack Harkness finishes his prison sentence, he discovers that the money he stole during his last bank robbery is now buried underneath the gym of a school. Gaining access as a substitute teacher, Jack faces enough of a challenge already by digging for the money at night and being a role model to educationally disadvantaged students during the day. When his attraction to the overly idealistic teacher Ianto Jones is thrown into the mix, though, it's not just Jack's freedom that's at stake, but also – for the first time – his heart.

 _Characters:_ Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, Gwen Cooper, Mica Davies, Owen Harper, John Hart, Toshiko Sato, Harold Saxon, Carys Fletcher, Bernie Harris, Annie Botchwell, Jonah Bevan, Jasmine Pierce, Alonso Frame, Suzie Costello, Rory Williams, Amy Pond, Andy Davidson

 _Pairing:_ Jack/Ianto (slow development), Jack/Gwen (past), Jack/Alonso Frame (past)

 _Rating:_ NC-17

 _Warnings:_ Attempted suicide, mention of prostitution, mention of drug abuse, mention of an abusive relationship in the past, violence

 _Contains:_ Language, sexual situations

 _Author's Note:_ Written for reel_torchwood and based on the German movie _Fack Ju, Göhte!_ with Elyas M'Barek and Karoline Herfurth. This movie is available as a DVD with English subtitles and totally worth it!

Goethe (intentionally spelled wrong 'Göhte' in the movie's title) is one of Germany's most popular writers and lived from 1749-1832. To adapt the story to take place in Wales, I replaced him with the English writer Shakespeare (1564-1616).

The second half of the story is only loosely based on the movie. I took some freedoms with that.

 _Beta:_ nemo_baker, who agreed to swap stories with me. Thank you!

 _Disclaimer:_ I'm not making money with this fanfic. The tv show _Torchwood_ and the characters appearing within it belong to their producers and creators.

The movie _Fack ju, Göhte!_ (2013) belongs to its writer and director Bora Dagtekin and the production companies Rat Pack and Constantin.

Additionally, one sentence in this story was borrowed from another German movie called _Türkisch für Anfänger_ ( _Turkish for Beginners_ ). This movie belongs to Bora Dagtekin (as well!) and the production companies Rat Pack, Constantin and ARD Degeto.

Any similarities to living or dead persons are purely coincidental and not intended.

xxx

 **1.**

There was a crack running along the clinically white ceiling, crossing the room almost entirely. Jack leaned further back in his chair, the legs tilting precariously. He wondered how long the crack had been there, how deep it went and almost wished for the ceiling to cave in, if only to save him from this boring afternoon.

"Mr. Harkness."

On the other hand, he thought, it would be kind of ironic if he'd die here, in this god-awful place.

"Mr. Harkness?"

Not heroically in a fight against the police or with a woman or a man in his bed (he wasn't picky there), but sitting here, at this little table in this bare classroom with Mrs. Medlin …

"Jack Harkness!"

He startled and managed to get his chair back under control and onto its four feet. He glared at Mrs. Medlin who was staring at him disapprovingly with her arms crossed over the brown cardigan she had probably worn for the last fifty years or so. The bun her grey hair had been forced into only strengthened the image of a stern teacher.

Jack crossed his own arms over the thin muscle shirt he was wearing and flexed his biceps, though he already had noticed that Mrs. Medlin didn't seem frightened by him – or any of the others in this room – at all. "What?"

Mrs. Medlin glared at him. "That's 'pardon' to you. Are you not interested at all in whether you graduated?"

"Why? Did I?" He'd be surprised.

"No."

"So why the fuck should I care?"

Mrs. Medlin was the kind of woman who looked like she should be rattled by the f-word, but Jack guessed that one didn't spend a few hours a week helping adults in a prison to graduate from school without ever hearing bad words. She was used to it, so she just smiled blandly. "Do you want to know which subject is your weakness?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Would it matter if I said 'no'?"

"Not really."

"Bitch," he muttered under his breath. Carl sitting next to him chuckled, but Mrs. Medlin's icy glare made him shut up. Jack sneered at him. "Bitch," he repeated, this time headed at Carl.

Mrs. Medlin sighed. "The sad thing, Mr. Harkness, is that all subjects are a weakness for you."

"Great. Can I go now?"

"It's sad that you will leave this facility not having used the last year to get a certificate. It would make starting a legal life easier for you," Mrs. Medlin replied. "I'd like to say you tried … but you didn't."

Jack smiled sharply. "I only came for the free coffee," he said, saluting her with the paper cup.

"Well, I hope we won't be seeing each other again."

"Hear, hear," Jack answered.

Mrs. Medlin gathered her folders and paperwork. "Though looking at your track record, that's unlikely."

"Hey, look at the bright side," Jack said, grinning sarcastically. "If I end up here again, you can start from scratch."

Mrs. Medlin looked scandalised.

xxx

Jack didn't go to prison unprepared. The bank robbery he'd been sentenced for had gone over smoothly. He'd only been caught three days later and by then, his share of the money had already been safely stashed with a friend he trusted. So he wasn't worried about leaving the prison with no prospects. The money had been waiting for him for a year and the first thing he'd do as soon as he was out was call Gwen and get the money back from where she'd hidden it safely. He was ready by the time Andy Davidson unlocked his prison cell for what would be the last time.

"Big day for you, yeah?" Andy said with a bright smile on his boyish face when Jack stepped out of his cell. "Back to a civilised life."

Jack winked at him, grinning the way he knew always made Andy blush slightly. "I never was civilised."

Andy had just started at Cardiff Prison when Jack had been arrested and he was one of the better wardens – always happy to make a joke and treating the prisoners with a respect that got repaid by good behaviour. Andy waved Jack forward to step out of the cell, glancing inside to see whether anything personal was left. Since Jack had come with almost nothing, though, and had never had anyone bring him his belongings, it was as bare as the day he'd moved in.

Andy sighed. "Let's go then."

"Hey, Jack!" a familiar voice called and he turned around to where his former partner in crime John Hart was being led to his cell. He was grinning widely, showing him the thumbs-up. "See you in a few days!"

"Yeah!" Jack answered. "Don't drop the soap in the meantime!"

John laughed. "You know I do it on purpose!" He was ushered forward by his guard and shrugged him off with a glare. "Don't touch me, wanker."

"Come on," Andy said, touching Jack's shoulder. "Let's get you to freedom."

xxx

Jack received a clear plastic bag with his beloved leather jacket, his wallet and his mobile as well as a pack of cigarettes. He threw the cigarettes away, having given up on smoking, and donned the jacket against the cool rain and wind of a February afternoon. Then he began to walk.

The money was enough to buy him a fast food lunch. He spent a few hours reacquainting himself with Cardiff, knowing that Gwen would still be sleeping, and finally ended up near Mermaid Quay where his last money bought him a few beers and a prepaid SIM card, which he used to call Gwen when the sun set.

It took her only twenty minutes to pull up at the gas station he'd indicated as their meeting place. He smiled when he saw her get out of the car. Her long dark hair was still as wild as always and her gap-toothed grin was infectious … until the saw what exactly she'd done to his car. He stared in shock while Gwen ran towards him as fast as her high heels allowed and threw her arms around his neck. "Oh, baby, it's good to see you!"

Jack shrugged her off, approaching his car. "What the fuck, Gwen? What did you do to my car?" He pointed at the huge sticker on the door.

She came to stand next to him and grinned. "'Bitch on Board'. Fitting, isn't it?"

He only glanced at her hot pants, and the top that left little to the imagination, and shook his head. "If it was your car, but it's not. I gave it to you for safekeeping."

Gwen rolled her eyes, readjusting her bra. "Oh, Christ, Jack, don't be a wuss." She glanced at him. "Besides, even if it is your car, 'Bitch on Board' still fits."

A couple of men walked by, wolf-whistling at her. Gwen smiled at them, tugging her hot pants into place and blowing them a kiss.

One of the men asked, "How much for a blowjob, love?"

"Sorry," she answered, leaning into Jack. "Already got a john. But you can find me at the _Exotic_." She looked up at Jack. "Don't I get a kiss?"

Jack couldn't be mad for long when she looked at him like that. He rolled his eyes and gave up on his car's dignity. "What do you charge?"

Gwen pouted mockingly and then placed a kiss on his lips. "One for free, because you're out. But don't let Harold hear about it." Jack smacked her arse and Gwen giggled before pulling away. "I'm sure you'd like to know where I buried your money."

Jack nodded. "Yeah."

She handed him the car keys. "Let's go."

xxx

"It's a school," Jack said, peering out the windshield at the building Gwen had led him to. Three floors, rectangular form, in desperate need of some renovations. It fit the neighbourhood it was placed in, which was just as miserable. There were overflowing waste containers, groups of drunk young men hollering at passing cars, and children much too young to still be out at this time of night.

The school was located at a dead-end street and lay there quietly. The lights of the car reflected off the big, blue plastic letters attached to a slab of concrete.

 _Dylan Thomas School_

Crude pictures and tags were sprayed on the sign and the concrete, giving the school an even more wretched aura.

Gwen handed Jack her mobile, a map open on the display. "I marked the spot for you," she said and Jack glanced at the pin which couldn't be more than a few meters away from them. Somewhere on the school grounds. Gwen grinned. "I thought nobody would come search a school, you know?"

Jack took the mobile, grimly staring out the window.

"What's wrong?" Gwen asked.

"Don't have good memories of my time at school."

Gwen's eyes widened in surprise. "You went to school? How long for?"

"8th or 9th grade, I don't know," Jack answered and rubbed his forehead. "It was my cocaine phase." The lie came over his lips easily. School had been hard on him for a whole different reason, but nobody knew the truth about his life before he'd escaped to Cardiff from London. It was supposed to stay that way.

Gwen didn't seem overly curious. She was checking her make-up in the rear mirror. "Hey, if you find the money, can I get new tits?"

Jack got out of the car. "Shut up and honk if someone's coming." He slammed the door.

"Hey," Gwen called after him, leaning out the open window. "You owe me. It would be good for business, I'm not getting any younger."

He waved her off and continued towards the building, following the mobile's map.

The school seemed even more desolate close up: Graffiti everywhere, litter strewn around the bins instead of inside them, posters advertising clubs either half-torn off the walls or the pictures on them scribbled over with pens. He looked through a window and found a classroom with only the bare essentials, some of the chairs and tables already damaged. It reminded him of his school in London and he sighed, quickly turning away.

He was so focused on following the navigation that he didn't look up and was abruptly stopped by a signpost smacking against his forehead. "Fuck." He looked up, squinting in the low light of the lamps around the school yard to make out the letters.

 _Dylan Thomas School Gym_

The sign seemed newer than the rest of the school, as did the building. Even marred by some graffiti, it still appeared more modern than the rest of the school.

And it sat exactly where the pin on Gwen's mobile indicated she'd buried his money.

Jack couldn't believe it. "Is she bloody kidding me?" He turned around and stormed back to the car, waving frantically when Gwen started to honk hectically. "Shut up, you idiot! It's me!"

She got out, grinning. "Do you have it?"

"Do I look like I have it?" he asked, walking towards her.

"What's the hold-up?"

He grabbed her arm and pulled her along.

"Ow! Stop that!" She pushed him away and straightened her top and jacket. "What crawled up your arse and died?"

He didn't answer, just walked back to the gym.

Gwen's high-heels clacked over the concrete when she followed. "Hey, could we have a look inside? I'm doing a sexy teacher thing at the bar and maybe I could get some ideas for my costume." She stopped next to him when he pointed at the gym. "Whoa," she said. "This wasn't here a year ago." She looked at him and took a step back at his thunderous expression. "I swear, there was just some kind of construction site."

"Oh, really?!" Jack asked. "Why the fuck would you bury my money on a fucking construction site?"

"I thought they were just fixing some pipes!" Gwen answered. She put her arms around his neck, pressing against his side. "Are you mad at me?"

He pushed her away. "No! Why would I be mad at you? I have only been waiting for this moment for the last thirteen months!"

"Well ..." Gwen bit her lip. "Maybe we can lift it …," she said with a nod at the gym. Jack stared at her in disbelief while she trailed off, "... with a crane."

Jack kicked the sign and stomped back towards the car. A flickering light next to the building made him stop.

A candle.

He frowned quizzically and stepped closer. He hadn't noticed it before, but now he saw a small altar had been erected at the side of the building. Some candles and flowers and a picture of an older man wearing the coat of a janitor.

"Oh, how sad," Gwen said. "He looks nice."

Jack smiled. "I have an idea."

xxx

The fist hit him square in the face.

Jack stumbled back and into one of the glass tables, taking it down with him. Harold Saxon was a short man but he was strong and known for his right hook. Jack groaned and held his nose, feeling blood on his fingers. Harold massaged his fist while Jack sat up slowly. None of the guests still sitting around the stage and at the bar paid any attention to them, either too drunk, too distracted by the scantily glad girls dancing at the poles, or too indifferent to the violence. The _Exotic_ was dimly lit, the music loud and the smell of alcohol and fast food permeated the air.

Harold grimaced, flexing his hand. His suit was probably supposed to give him more credibility than he deserved, but it fell flat in the surroundings of the strip bar that served as a brothel on the side. "I missed you," Harold said. "Good to see that prison didn't kill you." He grinned wolfishly.

Gwen rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "Really, Harold. It's his first day out. Cut him some slack."

"Shut up and go change!" Harold snapped at her. "The sexy teacher is up in twenty minutes. Last I heard you were still working for me." He turned back to Jack. "You owe me 2000 pounds."

Jack got up slowly, glass crunching under his shoes. The table had broken during the fall but his leather jacket had served well in protecting him from the shards.

Harold sighed. "And you owe me a new table."

"Relax," Jack answered, taking the napkin Gwen offered him for his nose. "I'll have the money from my last robbery in two weeks."

"Two weeks," Harold said with a nod, "or I'll sell your organs."

"Right," Jack said. "Can I crash here?"

Harold rolled his eyes. "I don't have the space unless you're putting out for the clients."

"'Course you have the space! Not all of the boys and girls are here all the time. Don't fuck with me, Harold. You've got spare rooms."

Harold sighed deeply, but nodded. "Gina's in rehab. You can have her room until she's back." With that, he walked away.

"Come on," Gwen said, taking Jack's hand. "Gina's room is next to mine. It's perfect." She smiled up at him.

They left the _Exotic_ through a side door, entering the narrow corridor that separated Harold's two table dance bars. The _Exotic_ on the right catered to the straight men looking for company, the _Nevada_ on the left to those who preferred men. The only thing the bars shared was Harold's name under their licenses and this corridor, which led up to the first floor where the employees had their rooms for the more discreet services not officially advertised. The door leading to the _Nevada_ opened, thumping music streaming out, and a blond young man in shorts and with a naked chest joined them.

"Oh, hey, Jack!" he said, smiling brightly. "You're back."

Jack needed a moment to recognise him, but he smiled when he did. "Still working for Harold, Alonso?"

The young man shrugged. "You know how it is." Alonso had once told Jack about his plans for the future after they'd shagged. How he'd go to London and open his own business. Jack had given him a big tip that night, trying to encourage even though he knew that big plans died fast in this place.

Gwen ushered him upstairs and showed him to Gina's room before disappearing into hers to get changed.

The room was lit dimly with red lamps, pillows, throws and curtains giving it soft curves and comfy corners to relax in. A make-up table was crammed into a corner next to the door leading to a tiny bathroom. Jack sat on the bed and kicked off his shoes, lounging back with his hands crossed behind his head to think. His reflection stared back at him out of the mirror fixed to the ceiling. He needed his clothes from the boxes Gwen had kept while he was in prison. He would then go to that school tomorrow and apply as a janitor, get the keys to all the buildings and then get the money. He might have to bury a tunnel to get to it, but that wouldn't be a big hindrance. He could do that at night while nobody was at the school.

As for the janitor job, he was good with technical things, so it wouldn't be a problem for him to pretend long enough to get his money back.

He smiled. It was an easy plan. And then he would pay off his debts and fly to California, away from dreary Cardiff and into a bright future.


	2. Chapter 2

**2.**

"What do you think?" Gwen asked, barging into the room unannounced. Jack took in the short skirt, the net stockings and high heels and then the tight white blouse. Gwen had left it half buttoned to show off her cleavage. She wore her dark hair in an untidy bun. Her make-up was flawless, accentuating her green eyes.

Jack let his gaze linger, smirking when Gwen answered the heated stare with a grin. Finally, he nodded. "About the money," he said, "I'm going to dig a tunnel to get underneath the gym. The school building is about 40 feet away from the pin on the map and I'm sure they've got a basement, which the gym won't have. Would be a good starting point."

Gwen finished her outfit with a pair of black-rimmed glasses. "Isn't that a rather stupid plan? I mean, I haven't been in school for a while but I think they won't allow you to just barge in there and dig a tunnel to get the money you stole in a bank robbery."

Jack rolled his eyes. "I'm going to apply as a janitor."

Gwen raised one eyebrow. "Do you even know what a janitor does?"

"Do you?"

"I don't have to," Gwen answered with a grin. "Now, am I the hottest teacher in town?"

Jack smiled. "In the world."

xxx

Jack found an empty parking space directly in front of the school and got out of the car. School was about to start. Several children ran past him. Groups of teenagers were crowded around their mobiles, but most of the pupils were on their way inside. Everyone was chattering, laughing and yelling at each other. It was chaotic and it reminded Jack of why he didn't want children.

He sighed. He really wasn't good with children or teenagers … or people in general. It was a good thing that being a janitor would mean he was on his own most of the time.

"You are not allowed to park there," a girl said to him. She couldn't have been older than eleven and glared at him with the righteousness of a teacher's pet.

He hated teacher's pets.

"Shut up and get out of my way." He stalked past her.

"That's a disability parking space you're standing on!" she called after him.

He considered showing her the finger, but gave her some plus points for the fact that she wasn't intimated by him in the least, and went inside without looking back.

The noise was only worse once he stepped through the doors, echoing off the walls and down the corridors. Jack grimaced and shoved his way through the students.

Locating the door leading to the basement wasn't hard. It was a good thing that schools liked to label things.

He rattled the door labelled _Basement – Authorised Personnel Only_. It was locked. Jack checked his mobile on which he'd copied the pin from Gwen's. The money really was close. 40 feet seemed realistic. That would put it directly underneath the gym, as already suspected. If he got some long hours in during the night, he would be able to reach the money within a week, he reckoned.

"Can I help you?" someone asked and Jack startled, turning to face a young man standing in front of him. He was clutching a whole load of books and pads to his chest, a clearly heavy bag slung over his shoulder, slightly out of breath. He was also smiling politely.

Jack was struck by his blue eyes and boyish face, the tight jeans and the untucked button-up shirt he was wearing, and needed a moment to get his mind back in gear. He wasn't like John, who enjoyed the kind of voyeurism only prison could offer. So it had been too long for him since he'd touched someone. Since he had been touched. And the young man was exactly his type. He flashed a smile. "I'm looking for the school principal."

"Oh!" the young man said. He tried to shift the weight of his bag and only succeeding in making it slowly slip off his shoulder, and almost lost some of the books in his arms. He grimaced. "Because of the job?" There was an accent on him that sounded distinctively Welsh.

It didn't help with Jack's libido problem. "Uh ..." He nodded carefully. "Yes."

The young man nodded in the direction he came from. "It's that way." Jack made to walk past him but the young man stopped him. "Hey, could you just …?" He pointedly looked at his book bag still slipping off his shoulder. Jack reached out and adjusted it, noticing just how heavy it was. "Diolch," the young man said with a smile, confirming his Welsh heritage, and walked on.

Jack looked after him, noticing a sheet of paper had been attached to his shirt which read _Kick me_.

"Loser," he muttered. "Pretty, though."

xxx

The chair creaked when Jack leaned back to stretch. He'd been sitting in the bare corridor in front of the principal's office for half an hour now, waiting his turn. He wasn't the only applicant, though the appearance of the others surprised him a bit. They all wore very conservative and fancy clothes. The woman next to him was dressed in a tweed costume that would have put his teacher in elementary school to shame. Her hair was pinned up in a complicated bun. He felt a bit underdressed in his muscle shirt, leather jacket and jeans.

None of the applicants had been called inside yet. The principal – a strict-looking Asian woman who'd introduced herself as Toshiko Sato – had told them that she had to deal with an important phone call first and if they could wait just a bit, thank you very much. A dark-haired woman in a black costume came rushing around the corner, startling Jack a bit in her haste. She was wiping her face which was smeared with something blue – maybe ink – and muttering softly. Without knocking, she opened the door to the principal's office.

"Suzie!" Sato's voice filtered out, sounding annoyed.

Suzie didn't seem impressed. "Tosh, it's about the 10b."

Jack took a second to admire Suzie's long legs in the flesh-coloured stockings. She looked like a model, not like a teacher.

Sato snapped, "Not now!"

Tears mixed into Suzie's voice when she answered, "But I can't take it anymore!"

"Suzie, I'm doing interviews here!"

Suzie slammed the door to the office and stomped down the corridor, wiping her eyes. Jack watched her go, noticing that he wasn't the only man doing so. He chuckled and turned to the tweed woman next to him. "Children, huh? Can really be a downer."

She looked startled that he would dare speak to her and quickly turned her face away.

Jack frowned. "You don't look like you know how to change a light bulb," he said. "Did you do this job before?"

She ignored him.

Angry, Jack asked, "What, are you some kind of elite janitor who doesn't talk to the likes of me?"

She didn't answer.

Jack scoffed and got up, putting a few steps between them. There were fifteen people sitting and waiting. Way too many. He needed to improve his chances.

Two teenagers walked past – a girl in hot pants and a tight top following a boy dressed in jeans and a football t-shirt with a determined expression. She grabbed his arm. "Hey, idiot, you owe me money!"

"Piss off", he answered.

"Son of a bitch."

"You're a son of a bitch," he answered.

"That doesn't even make sense!" she yelled at him.

Jack saw a chance and he never hesitated long when he did. He used his elbow to hit the Amok alarm embedded in the wall behind him. The shrill alarm bell echoed through the hallway, accompanied by a gentle voice. _"This is an amok alarm. Please go into a room and lock the door."_

The girl started to scream and ran off. Some of the applicants also left, panicked looks on their faces. The rest of them followed quickly when Jack said, "Man, no week goes by without someone running amok at this school."

Sato left her office. "What in the world is going on here?" She zeroed in on the boy who was still standing where the girl had left him, looking around in confusion. "Jonah Bevan, how come you're not in class?"

Jack said, "That little runt hit the amok alarm."

"What?!" Jonah stared at him. "Oi! Miss Sato, I swear it was him!"

Jack just smiled indulgently and shrugged at Sato.

She sighed and pointed at Jonah. "Your parents get a phone call from me, young man."

"But it wasn't me!"

"Back to class!" Sato snapped and Jonah tuned to go, glaring at Jack. Sato went back into her office and Jonah used the chance to hiss, "Arsehole."

"Wanker," Jack answered with a smile.

The alarm stopped and Sato straightened her blouse and skirt, smiling at Jack. "Good graces, what a bad first impression that must have left."

Jack shrugged. "Aw, they're just children."

Sato smiled and looked around. "Well … since you're the only one left, come on in."

Her office looked like she was trying to keep it orderly and failed on a daily basis. A shelve with several screens stood shoved against the wall opposite her desk, showing various CCTV views of the school. The book shelves were overloaded, her desk cluttered and the drawers of the filing cabinets were open. She sat at her desk and signalled Jack to sit in the chair provided for visitors. He dropped into it casually.

"Right," Sato said, distractedly checking the monitors behind him. "Your subjects?"

"Subjects?" he asked. "You mean what I like in school?"

"Well, I figure that's how it works," she answered a bit haughtily.

Jack thought about that. He had hated school, so he needed to find something he could pass off as realistic. "PE," he said slowly.

"English Lit?" she asked with raised eyebrows.

Jack hesitated. "Uh ..."

She tapped her pen against the desk. She seemed to expect a positive answer. Problem was, he had never in his life finished a book.

He cleared his throat. "I can read."

"Good," she answered with a smile. "I pegged you as the type. Finally a man who doesn't want to teach maths."

Jack startled. "Teach? I have to teach?"

"Well, you turned up for the interview as a substitute teacher, so I went ahead and assumed."

Jack's eyes widened. "Oh, actually, I was-"

"I know!" she interrupted him, sorting through some files. "Substituting isn't the safest kind of position but it's all I can offer you at the moment. It would be for the next two months only."

There was a loud click and the lights went off. A peek over his shoulder showed Jack that the screens had gone black as well.

Sato sighed. "What was your name again?"

"Harkness," Jack answered. "Jack Harkness."

She smiled tightly. "Our janitor had a heart attack on Tuesday and we haven't got the budget for a new one at the moment. Unfortunately, all our money this year went into the new gym after the old one burned down … accidentally of course." She grimaced. "The insurance doesn't see it that way." The lights went on again and she smiled. "Which means that we need to fix the odd little things around here ourselves at the moment. City council couldn't care less about us, of course. It's the neighbourhood, not very … prestigious." She grabbed a glue stick off her table and smelled it for a second, then she took a deep breath and relaxed. "Do you like the new gym? I drafted it myself, the architect was a complete imbecile."

"Will I get a universal key as a teacher?" Jack asked.

"You're asking weird questions," Sato answered and then clapped her hands. "Right, let's talk salary."

"Salary's always good."

"2000 brutto," Sato said.

Jack stared at her. He'd never earned that much money with a legal job before. "Seriously?"

"Okay," Sato said, waving him off. "2.200, but that's the best I can do."

"Deal," Jack said.

Sato smiled. "Wonderful. I expect your university degree on my desk tomorrow then and we'll see each other first thing in the teachers' lounge."

Jack smiled, pained, his stomach sinking. "Degree, first thing, teachers' lounge. Got it."

Problem was, he didn't have a degree.

xxx

Jack leaned against the wall outside and used his mobile to try and find a good online template of a university degree that he would be able to print out at the _Exotic_. It was recess, and there were children and teenagers crowding around him on the school yard. Sitting closest to him were two teenage girls, talking.

"Bitch," one of them said.

"Yeah, did you know that she's wearing push-ups?"

Jack raised his eyes from the display, glancing in the direction the two girls were looking. A pretty blond girl, around 16 years old and wearing skin-tight jeans, was talking to a handsome boy her age, clearly flirting. Jack looked back at the two gossiping girls and could see why they were jealous. One was lanky and awkward and wore clothes that looked like they had been modern decades ago, the other was wearing baggy jeans and a plaid button-up that left everything to the imagination.

The lanky one said, "Hey, there's your uncle." She started to wave.

The other girl cursed and quickly pulled her hand down. "Don't! Or he'll come over ... shit, he's coming."

Jack followed her gaze and saw the young man he'd already encountered before the interview. He was accompanied by another man a little older than him wearing slacks and a button-up – clearly another teacher. The young man made a beeline for the girls. "Mica," he said. "You need to wear your coat when you're sitting out here in the wind."

Jack raised his eyebrows. There was hardly a breeze. That wouldn't go down well. Mica got up and left her uncle in the dust, her friend following her hastily.

"Mica!" her uncle called after her. "Mica, I'm talking to you!"

"Mica," all students in the vicinity echoed, "he's talking to you!"

They started to laugh while Mica vanished inside the building and the young man blushed. He quickly found his balance again, though, when he saw the pretty girl Mica had gossiped about lighting a cigarette. "Jasmine, please put out the cigarette."

She looked at him and provocatively took another drag.

"Jasmine, I'm-"

The young man was cut off when the other teacher grabbed his shoulder. "Jesus, Ianto, leave them be. They don't respect NQTs and they never will."

Ianto glared at him. "Just because I'm in my induction year doesn't mean they can ignore me. Smoking isn't allowed here for a reason."

"You won't stop them from doing it anyway. They copy what they see at home." With that, he got out a pack of cigarettes himself and lit one.

Ianto's eyes widened in indignation. "What kind of attitude is that, Owen?" He walked towards Jasmine, who wasn't the only one smoking by now. The handsome boy had lit one, too. "Who is your teacher?" Ianto asked.

Owen sighed deeply. Jack snorted. The only thing he hated more than teacher's pets where the teacher's pets who became teachers. Ianto probably had graduated from university with perfect grades … he pocketed his mobile when an idea struck him. The teachers at this school had graduated at some point. He just needed one of their degrees to cheat a bit. If he played his cards right now, he would be able to hand his papers in tomorrow with nobody being the wiser. He followed Ianto.

"There are rules for a reason," Ianto was saying while Jasmine and her friend were just smiling in amusement, continuing to smoke. "The smaller children will follow your example."

The boy snorted and showed Ianto the finger.

"Hey!" Jack said, coming to stand beside Ianto. "You apologise right now and put out the cigarette."

"Forget it, old man."

Jack smiled and grabbed the cigarette out of the boy's fingers before putting it out against the palm of his hand. The trick he'd learned in prison apparently had some sort of effect, because not only the boy and Jasmine were gaping at him, but also Ianto and Owen, who had joined them. "I said," Jack repeated, "apologise to your teacher."

"Sorry," the boy muttered and Jasmine quickly dropped her cigarette and put it out with her high heel. They turned and left somewhat hastily, their friends following.

"Wow," Owen said. "And who the hell are you?"

"Jack Harkness," Jack answered. "I'll start here tomorrow. Substitute teacher."

"Substitute teacher," Owen echoed. "We work here, too."

"My condolences," Jack replied. He looked Owen up and down, seeing a self-confident man with a grim face. He didn't make the slightest effort to return the slightly flirtatious smile Jack gave him. When he looked at Ianto, he caught the other man eyeing his chest, and he had an air of inexperience and nervous tension about him that spoke loudly of a lack of self-confidence.

Perfect.

He smiled and focused on him. "I was thinking, because of the schedule and stuff, maybe we could meet up and … chat." He let his eyes travel up and down Ianto's body, cracking a smile.

"Uh ..." Ianto cleared his throat. "Sorry, because of what?"

"The schedule."

"Do you mean the syllabus?"

"Do I?" Jack asked, leaning closer to Ianto who promptly leaned back and avoided his eyes.

Owen snorted a laugh and clapped a hand on Jack's back. "He's got time tonight," he said. "He's got loads of time. And yes, he's single."

"Owen," Ianto hissed.

"Perfect," Jack said, smiling brightly.

xxx

Jack had expected Ianto to live in a flat, but the address Ianto gave him led in fact into a quiet middle-class neighbourhood with neat little row houses.

Ianto let Jack in with a nervous smile. Inside, everything was painfully orderly. Jack only got a short moment to peek into the lounge and the adjacent kitchen while walking past, but everything looked as if it just came out of a catalogue. Ianto surprised Jack by leading him up the first flight of stairs and straight into his bedroom, which not only housed a bed and a closet, but also a couch, an armchair, a coffee table and a small telly as well as several shelves crammed full with books.

Jack frowned while Ianto took his jacket and left it over the back of an armchair. "Wouldn't the sitting room be more comfy?" He'd seen a computer and a printer there.

"Oh!" Ianto said. "It's quieter here." He sat on the couch and poured two mugs of tea from a thermos. "I don't live alone, you know. Owen, the bloke you met with me today, lives here temporarily."

"Temporarily?" Jack walked further into the room and smiled when he saw a laptop and a small printer as well as a shelf with several folders – all neatly labelled. One of them read _University_. Perfect.

"His wife died," Ianto replied. "He sold their flat because he couldn't bear to stay there so he moved in here about two months ago. It's good, really, because I can use the help with the house and Mica." He cleared his throat. "Sit down. I prepared tea. Or would you like something else?"

Jack dropped into a chair and sniffed the air. The tea smelled a bit too herby for his taste and he needed Ianto out of the room anyway. "You got beer?"

"Uh ..." Ianto straightened and brushed a hand through his short dark hair. "I don't know. I don't drink beer, normally."

Jack shrugged. "Any kind of alcohol will do."

Ianto looked taken aback. Jack smiled as charmingly as he could muster. Ianto wiped his hands on his jeans and tentatively offered, "Wine?"

"Whatever," Jack answered. Ianto left the room and went downstairs. As soon as he'd left the room Jack, got a small bottle out of his jacket, pouring the clear liquid it into Ianto's tea. He'd got the roofie off an old friend who had owed him a favour. Now he hoped that it would work quickly. He had honestly no idea what to talk to Ianto about.

Ianto returned with a wine bottle and a glass. "Red okay?"

Jack nodded and Ianto poured him half a glass before sitting down.

"Anyway, Mica's my niece," Ianto said, sipping his tea. "Not my daughter. Just in case you were wondering."

"I wasn't," Jack answered, gulping down half the glass. Ianto took another swallow of his tea and smiled nervously. Jack let the silence hang, knowing Ianto would either fill it or drink his tea faster to downplay his obvious anxiety. He couldn't care less about his stories but he sure as hell wouldn't share anything about himself and risk being caught.

Ianto finally broke the silence. "It's difficult at the moment. Mica is … it's difficult. I guess it's normal for teenagers to distance themselves but she just seems … more so."

"Hm," Jack said non-committally. "Needs a woman in her life."

"My sister was a great mother."

"Is she dead?" Jack asked.

Ianto flinched. "Yes," he said softly. "As is her husband and … Mica's little brother. Four months ago. We're living in their house." He looked at Jack and drank more of his tea.

"Shit happens," Jack said.

Ianto choked on a laugh.

Jack cleared his throat. "Is the school very rough? The kids seem the tough sort."

"It's the neighbourhood," Ianto said with a nod. "We get many students from the estate, you know. Educationally disadvantaged, poor people. The children suffer and being tough is how they communicate their pain."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Well, if they communicate their pain to me that way, I'll shove it back up their arses."

Ianto stared at him. "Sorry, where did you study?"

"Where did _you_ study?" Jack asked.

"Oxford."

Jack hadn't expected that. Ianto apparently was very smart. At least in some regards. If he would have been really smart, he wouldn't have left Jack alone with his drink. Jack forced a calm smile and a casual shrug. "Me, too. Fancy university, that."

Ianto emptied his cup. "Yes, I could have gone teaching at boarding schools, had the offers, you know. But with Mica needing me ... I didn't want to take her away from what she knows and there was a position open at her school, so …" He closed his eyes and shook his head, grimacing slightly. Apparently, the drug was starting to take effect. "Anyway, youth welfare services will come in a few days to check on our living situation." He looked at Jack who just nodded. Ianto scoffed, but it didn't seem to be directed at Jack. "You're not interested. Right, do you want to get sta ...?"

He groaned and then fell forwards.

Jack caught him before he could hit the coffee table and pushed him to lounge back on the couch. "Finally," he muttered. He got up and went over to the shelf with the folders, getting the one labelled _University._ He found the degree at the top. "Ha." He slapped the document on the scanner included in the printer and woke the laptop from its sleep mode, quickly scanning the degree. He changed the name from Ianto Jones to Jack Harkness within the document, but when he pressed _Print_ , the laptop complained, telling him there was a paper jam.

Jack checked on Ianto, who was still sleeping, and opened the back of the printer. No paper jam. He saw a memory stick and loaded the file onto that, deciding to print it out at the _Exotic_.

That was when he heard the door to the house fall shut. Mica was spending the night at a friend's place, Ianto had said. So this could only be Owen.

Jack cursed and pocketed the stick, then he went over to the couch and grabbed Ianto under the armpits, dragging him over to the bed. He dropped him on the mattress and laid him down properly, pulling the duvet over him.

In the hallway, Owen was talking on the phone, his voice sounding slightly muffled through the closed door. "You think the kids are bad, you never met the parents. Stupid wankers."

Jack dove onto the bed just when it knocked on the door.

"Ianto, you there?" Owen called.

Jack pulled the duvet over himself as well and quickly half-draped his body over Ianto's just when the door opened.

It was quiet for a long moment, then Owen whispered, "I don't believe it. Ianto pulled." While he closed the door he hissed, "I don't know, but that new teacher was supposed to come over tonight. Didn't think he had it in him."

Ianto sighed in his sleep and slid closer to Jack, his hands reaching out to grasp him. Before he could get entangled, Jack quickly left the bed. He put on his jacket, made sure he had the stick and left the room.

"What am I supposed to say?" Owen was asking from the room next door.

Jack quickly slid along the hallway towards the stairs.

"The truth? 'You're a miserable excuse for a human being who is unable to teach your kid some manners.' Certainly no … oh!"

Jack turned around. Owen was staring at him. Jack smiled quickly. "He's drunk. Better go check whether he's still breathing in an hour so."

Owen nodded dumbly while Jack was already leaving the house and hurrying to his car, the stick clutched in his hand.


	3. Chapter 3

**3.**

Ianto didn't remember anything about the evening before. Owen's amused grin and dirty jokes were enough to paint quite a picture, though.

He couldn't believe that he got that drunk. It wasn't like him at all, especially not around someone he'd just met. And he was pretty sure he'd only had tea. The wine bottle in his room wasn't even half empty, either. And apart from the fact that he'd woken up with a hang-over and fully clothed in his bed, he didn't feel like he'd had sex. It had been a while, but not that long.

Owen, if only to be cruel, was still convinced otherwise.

Ianto stepped off his bike and was just taking his helmet off when Owen whispered, "Your one night stand."

Ianto instinctively followed his gaze to look across the busy school yard and found Jack slamming the door to his car, and walking towards the school with a grim expression on his face. He really was quite handsome. Ianto had been affected by Jack's looks from the first moment they met. He wasn't ashamed to admit to that. It had been a while since he'd had been with someone. Jack with his perfect build, the blue eyes, handsome face and blinding grin was a wet dream come true. Ianto wasn't blind.

But God damn it, he wasn't easy, either!

"And I don't remember a thing," he muttered.

There was a small chance that he'd made a fool out of himself by kissing Jack and falling asleep on top of him while they'd been making out. He thought he hazily remembered something like that. Even if they hadn't had sex, that would still be embarrassing enough. Jack's reaction would tell, he guessed.

He forced a smile when Jack walked by them. "Hey!"

Jack kept walking, only sparing them a glance. "Hey!" he replied coldly and whispered to himself, "Fuck."

Ianto swallowed, feeling his heart getting heavy. Owen chuckled, fastening his bike to Ianto's and both of them to the bike rack. "You must be quite the lover."

Ianto shoved him and Owen lost his balance, falling on his bottom. However, he managed to grab Ianto's wrist when he tried to go after Jack to … he didn't know what.

Apologise. Explain.

Beg.

He wondered why he even cared what Jack thought about him. He didn't seem to be an overly nice kind of bloke. Somehow, though, it was important that he understood that Ianto hadn't intended anything last night … at least not officially.

Owen's fingers were like iron around his wrist. "Ianto!" he said sharply, getting to his feet.

Ianto watched Jack enter the school.

"Hey!" Owen got him to catch his eyes. "Play it cool, now. Don't run after him like some virgin in heat."

Ianto swallowed and pulled his wrist free. Owen's intervention had spared him what could have been another awkward moment between him and Jack, though. So he didn't glare at him.

Instead he just straightened his shirt and grabbed his heavy book bag from his bike, ready to face the day and maybe talk to Jack more calmly later.

xxx

Jack found the teachers' lounge immediately and opened the door. He had expected teachers sitting around a table amidst shelves crammed with books and preparing for class. The table was there, as were the shelves and a rather pitiful kitchen niche. What he hadn't expected was the woman who'd stormed into Sato's office yesterday – Suzie – alone … and climbing onto the window sill.

He stopped.

She stared at him, her dark eyes wild. "Let me do this! Don't come closer!"

Jack swallowed.

Suzie shouldered her purse with an iron determination. "You won't be able to stop me!" With that, she let herself fall out the window. There was a sound of a body hitting asphalt, then several screams. Jack shook himself from his stupor and ran for the window, looking outside.

"Suzie!" Owen was yelling, running for her with Ianto in tow. Jack looked straight down. Suzie was staring up at him, almost bewildered when she realised she was still alive.

Jack shrugged at her. "What did you expect? It's just the first floor!"

Owen fell to his knees beside her. "Suzie!"

Ianto pushed his way through the students who were forming a crowd, getting out their mobiles and taking pictures. "Guys, stop it!" he called. "Please!"

"Call an ambulance," Owen said, running his hands along Suzie's head.

Nobody reacted, the students till too busy making videos and taking pictures of the woman lying sprawled on the ground.

"Stop it!" Ianto said, standing up and trying to shield Suzie from curious glances. "Go to your classrooms."

"Would somebody call an ambulance?!" Owen yelled.

"Suzie?" Sato called, getting off her bike and coming over to them quickly. She stopped just at the fringe of the crowd and sighed deeply. "Oh, not again!" She got out her mobile. "I'm calling and ambulance."

"Finally," Owen said.

Jack leaned on the window sill, watching Suzie stare at him. He smiled and waved at her.

Suzie's eyes focused on Ianto, who was still busy keeping the students back. "You should leave," she said. "Do it now. While you're still able. You're too sweet for this job! They're monsters! That class … _monsters_!"

"Everything is going to be all right," Owen said.

Suzie grabbed his hands, putting them around her neck. "Do it, please! Just _do_ it!"

Ianto raised his voice to be heard even over Suzie's. "Guys! Go to your classrooms! Give us some room!" His words did nothing and even Sato's bellowed orders to step back didn't impress the students at all.

Sirens were sounding in the distance and Jack had seen enough. "Hey!" he yelled. "Your teachers are talking to you, you little wankers!"

The students grew quiet and looked up at him in surprise.

Jack drew himself to his full height. "Go to your classrooms or I will come down and kick your arses so hard that you fly across the Bristol channel with the taste of my boots in your mouths!"

The teenagers kept staring at him as if he was something completely unexpected that had landed in their midst.

" **Now**!"

They dispersed, some of them getting one or two more pictures in before running. Ianto was looking up at Jack with wide eyes. Jack retreated and slammed the window closed, not interested in watching Suzie being wheeled away.

xxx

"Right," Sato said, sitting down at the head of the long table in the teachers' lounge. "I know we're all already late for our classes but we have something to discuss. Suzie is feeling very poor and she won't return to finish this school year, but I think we were all already aware of that possibility."

Jack hadn't taken a seat at the table but was perching on the window sill, fussing with the glasses he'd nicked from Gwen's sexy teacher outfit this morning before putting them on. He thought they gave him a certain educated air.

"We need to decide who will take on the 10b in Suzie's absence."

Jack heard a collective breath being drawn and the silence stretched. Only the soft sound of rain hitting the windows was heard. Sato was looking at everyone in turn with raised eyebrows.

Finally, Owen cleared his throat. "Sorry, but I can't. I took them for a week when their last teacher went missing and I still have nightmares."

The young biology teacher who'd introduced himself to Jack shyly as Rory Williams shook his head. "Everybody in that class is already sure not to make their GCSEs. They don't want to make them. They've been nothing but trouble since Year 8. You can't work with them."

Ianto frowned, staring at him. "The students need education." He looked around and everyone avoided his eyes. "Seriously? Don't you think you're all being a bit ..." He shrugged.

A pretty, red-haired woman who'd introduced herself as Amy Pond stared at him in askance. "Suzie took that class over six months ago. She made her second suicide attempt today. She was a soldier fighting in Afghanistan for a year without having a mental break-down." She looked at Sato. "So no, I sure as hell won't take them either."

Rory smiled at her, giving a nod of agreement. It had been painfully obvious from the first moment to Jack that Rory was into Amy something fierce. He could understand – she was pretty. However, she either didn't notice Rory's interest or she ignored it, which Jack could understand as well – Amy was clearly out of his league.

Jack scoffed quietly when the silence continued to stretch. "They're just children, don't piss yourselves."

Ianto frowned at him. "I wouldn't have worded it quite like that but I agree with Jack."

"Great," Sato said, "then you will take over the 10b, Ianto, and Jack can have your 7a."

Ianto's eyes widened. "My 7a?"

"Problem?" Sato asked.

"They're so … impressionable," Ianto said, "and Jack is ..." He took a breath.

Jack glared at him. "What?" he asked. " _What_ am I?"

Ianto blushed and shook his head. "Nothing." He didn't meet his eyes again until the meeting was called to be over by Sato a few minutes later.

xxx

The school bell rang through the corridors while Jack made his way to room 2B where the 7a was supposed to be. Some students were milling around the corridors, making use of their teachers' absences. They started to file back into the rooms, though, when Sato's voice sounded through the speakers. _"All students into their class, please. School will resume now."_

Jack was startled when a hand grabbed his arm. "Jack," Ianto said, "may I have a minute?"

Without waiting for a reply, he shoved Jack into a room. All of a sudden, Jack found himself surrounded by stuffed animals and skeletons of all kinds. The walls were taped with posters explaining biology. Through the slightly grimy windows, a watery sun illuminated the store room, giving it an eerie atmosphere.

Ianto closed the door firmly and then turned around to Jack, his books pressed to his chest and his heavy bag over one shoulder. "Listen," Ianto said, "about yesterday ..."

Jack raised his eyebrows, crossing his arms. "Yes?"

"I don't know what was going on with me. I must have had a drink too much with you or something … I honestly don't remember." He smiled awkwardly. "I just hope I didn't do anything embarrassing."

Jack knew he should resist teasing, but he just couldn't. "You kissed me."

Ianto's eyes widened. "Huh?"

"Yeah, you were quite the slut, actually. Offered yourself." He winked. "It has been a while, hasn't it?" Even without Ianto kissing him, he could tell that part.

"Oh," Ianto blushed and swallowed. "I ..." He laughed. "You know, just don't think it meant anything or any … thing. Just don't want you to get the wrong impression. We're colleagues now and things like that tend to end messy."

"Okay, already forgotten," Jack said with a shrug.

"What, really?" Ianto said and he looked disappointed.

"Sure, wasn't that great. I had prostitutes who kissed better."

"Prosti ..." Ianto cleared his throat. "Right, not my business." He smiled forcibly.

Jack regretted a bit that he had to push him away. Ianto was cute … but he was here to do a job, not to get laid by the next-best desperate teacher who hadn't got any in a while. That wasn't his type anyway. Desperate meant needy and needy meant clingy … he couldn't stand that.

"Have a good first day, then," Ianto said with a smile and left. Jack looked after him and sighed.

xxx

As soon as Jack opened the door to the 7a, the children started his worst nightmare with a choir of "Good morning".

He rolled his eyes. "Shut up, not interested." He dropped into the chair at the teacher's table and took one long look at the children sitting at their tables. They all stared back, expectant. And they were quiet. Perfect. Jack crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "I am Mr. Harkness and if you don't want to get into trouble with me, you will sit there and keep your mouths shut. I'm just a substitute teacher. You all start with the best grade. Everyone pissing me off gets a grade less. Understood?"

The children nodded, staring at him fearfully.

"Good," Jack said. "Now, you all make a list of your favourite movies and I want a DVD to sit on my desk every single time I walk through that door, is that clear?"

They nodded again.

Jack smiled. "Seriously, they have people study for this job?" He put his feet on the table. "Dead easy."

xxx

Ianto entered the 10b with a smile that he intended to keep, no matter the horror stories he'd heard about this class from Suzie, Owen and others. "Good morning. My name is Mr. Jones and I'm taking over for Mrs. Costello." He set his bag and books on the desk and then realised that nobody had been listening. A group of boys was standing in a corner, smoking at the open window and two girls in the front row were polishing their nails. The rest of the teenagers were either chatting, not paying Ianto any attention, or busy watching something on a mobile. "Hello!" Ianto called. "Would you sit down, please?"

Only two boys from the group who'd been smoking reacted to his words, wearing expressions of resolute boredom.

"Guys!" Ianto said loudly. "I know a lot has happened today but-"

"You look young. How old are you?" one of the girls doing their nails asked without even looking at him. Her dark-blond hair had been straightened into submission, shining glossily whenever she moved her head. She wore a skirt that too short in Ianto's opinion and a top that was so tight he wondered how she was able to breathe.

Ianto knew her, had already told her several times during recess to quite smoking on the school property. "That is not a question to ask a teacher, Carys," he said.

Her friend Annie, sitting next to her, raised her gaze from her nails, blowing a strand of blond hair out her eyes. She assessed Ianto and then she asked, "Are you a poof?"

Ianto stared at her.

"'Cos you look like one."

Carys smiled sweetly at him, her eyes betraying that she felt nothing but dislike for him. "Since when are poofs allowed to teach children?"

Ianto swallowed. "Right. We can make the rights of homosexuals a part of our syllabus if you're interested in it."

"Do I look like I'm interested?" Carys asked.

Ianto bit his lip and turned away from them. "Okay, enough now! Sit down, all of you! That means you as well, Bernie!"

Bernie laughed but he flicked his cigarette out the window and slammed it shut. To Ianto's relief, everyone followed suit and shuffled to their seats.

"Okay," Ianto said, trying to calm his racing pulse. "I'm sure some of you wonder why Mrs. Costello did what she did-"

"Not really," Bernie said.

"Don't interrupt me!" Ianto snapped. A moment later, he regretted losing his calm and raised a hand. "Sorry, I-"

"Hey, teacher," Jonah said. "Can you put your name on the board?"

Ianto glared at him but he turned around and walked to the board, grabbing the piece of chalk off the desk as he went … and froze as his hands stuck to it. "Oh my ..." He grimaced while the class started to laugh loudly. Ianto shot them a glare, trying to get rid of the chalk glued to his fingers. "Yes, glueing chalk to somebody's fingers … it's hilarious," he said, walking over to the sink.

He turned on the water … and that was when everything went to hell.


	4. Chapter 4

**4.**

Jack emptied the coffee can in the teachers' lounge and set it back into the machine before he sprawled into an armchair by the window. Owen glared at him from his position at the coffee machine, clutching a mug. "You could at least put new coffee on."

Jack looked at him, his eyebrows raised. "Why? I have enough."

Whatever Owen was going to say next was interrupted by the door opening and Rory making a startled noise.

Amy clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh my God."

Sato looked up from the papers she was working through and froze. It became silent in the room, all eyes drawn to the figure in the door. Ianto took a deep breath. He was sopping wet, dripping water on the carpet of the teachers' lounge, his book bag and the books he was holding against his chest wet as well. His face was smeared with something that looked like soot.

He looked deeply shaken.

Owen was the first one to move. He set his mug down. "Jesus, mate," he said, putting an arm around Ianto's shoulders and leading him towards a chair.

Ianto dropped his books on the table and took a deep breath before he tentatively asked, "Would somebody be willing to share leadership of the 10b? It's just … I have so much going on with the theatre group and ..."

"Are you admitting defeat?" Sato asked, getting up from her chair. "Should I open the window for you?"

Ianto bit his lip and ducked his head.

"Can somebody tell me," Sato asked loudly, looking around, "why nobody is able to get that class under control?"

"They're just … deeply insecure," Ianto muttered.

Owen clapped Ianto's shoulder. "They're psychopaths."

Sato frowned. "Or maybe Ianto should show them some strength."

Amy scoffed. "Don't blame the kitten, Tosh. He is only the last in a row of teachers who came out of that room scarred for life."

"I take it then that nobody is willing to step in for Ianto?" Sato asked.

Silence answered her question. Jack looked around, finding himself hesitating and considering raising his hand for a second. But the urge vanished when he reminded himself that the 7a was an easy job he could just sit through until he got to the money. The 10b sounded like a piece of work.

Sato nodded. "Well then, Ianto, still your class."

With that, she left the lounge. Ianto got up shakily. He looked around at everyone and took a deep breath. "Anyone for coffee?" he asked and then went to the machine without waiting for an answer.

"Bloody monsters, that's what they are," Rory said.

The others nodded and murmured their consent. Jack looked at Ianto who stood huddled beside the coffee machine, a hand over his eyes.

xxx

Jack returned to the school at ten that night, sure that nobody would be there anymore. He got access with his keys easily enough and went to the janitor's store room. He'd already had a look at it during lunch break and had found many of the things he needed in store. The rest, he'd got from the building centre.

With the janitor's tools, he was able to build a laser-activated motion sensor, glad for all the things John had taught him in preparation for their various break-ins. It was made easier by the fact that he'd always been a quick learner where technology and mechanics were concerned.

He installed the sensor at the entrance door to the school and grabbed his pickaxe and the sledge hammer, going down into the basement with the motion sensor's receiver.

The basement consisted of one big room where not only the heating system was installed, but also rows of shelves and cupboards – all crusted with dust – holding old books and models and other educational supplies that weren't used anymore.

He didn't switch on the lights since it would be easier for him to see the motion sensor blinking when it was as dark as possible, instead orienting himself with a big torch. Using the mobile to find the position of the money, he was able to make out the wall he needed to break through.

He swung the pickaxe and started to build his tunnel.

xxx

Mica knocked on Ianto's door gently before entering. "I brought you tea," she said, sitting on the couch next to him. Ianto accepted the mug and gave her a quick smile that felt forced. Then he turned his attention back to the book he was perusing. Mica looked at the title: _The 101 Of Teaching Aggressive Students_. She grimaced. "Hey, you know, it's not that bad."

Ianto clutched the mug tighter, trying not to let his emotions show too much. "I will have to deal with them for the rest of the school year … and I bet that I will get them again next term."

"Are they really that bad?" Mica asked.

"Worse."

"Bernie too?" Mica asked carefully.

Ianto looked at her, his eyes narrowed. "He's the leader of the lot."

Mica ducked her head. "What will happen to me if you get a burn-out?"

Ianto put an arm around her and pulled her to his side. "I won't." He kissed her temple. "I promise."

Mica nodded and got up. "I'm going to my room. Emma and I want to Skype for a bit."

"Hey, sweetheart," Ianto said, halting her at the door, "are you okay?"

Mica hesitated. "Not really."

"What's wrong?"

She shrugged. "You wouldn't understand."

The words hit Ianto deeply, but he kept a smile on his face. "Try me."

"You're not my mother," Mica replied, irritation creeping into her voice. "Or daddy."

Ianto swallowed. "I'm not trying to be."

"Just leave me alone." With that, she left, almost running into Owen who stepped aside to let her through and looked after her in bewilderment until her door fell shut at the other end of the hallway.

"All right?" Owen asked, entering Ianto's room. "My printer's on strike. I'll use yours, okay?"

Ianto nodded numbly and leaned back on the couch, closing his eyes. "I don't know what to do, Owen. One minute she wants me close, the next she pushes me away. She won't talk to me. Says I wouldn't understand."

"Hm," Owen said, waking Ianto's laptop from stand-by. "She's a teenager."

"I think she has a crush on Bernie."

"Bernie Harris?" Owen asked with a grimace. "Like uncle, like niece, huh?"

Ianto frowned at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"She's got a crush on a psychopath. You've got a crush on a psychopath."

Ianto sighed. "I don't have a crush on Jack."

"You keep telling yourself that."

Ianto leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling. "It's not just Mica, though. At university, I was always the best. And now this! Did you know that the 10b is also known as the amok class?"

"It's Bernie Harris," Owen said, "and that Carys Fletcher. They lead, the others follow." He looked at Ianto. "Hey, I saw a documentary the other day about teachers in America. They get bullet-proof vests in some neighbourhoods. I think we should buy us some."

Ianto rolled his eyes. "They key is patience. Kindness. Understanding."

"They'll kick your arse if you keep thinking like that," Owen replied. "The key is pepper spray." He hit the desk. "Damn it, Ianto, your printer's broken as well."

Ianto shook his head. "You need to jiggle the cable a bit."

Owen cursed but only a few seconds later, the printer whirred to life. "Fuck me, Ianto," Owen said, "you told me you graduated with 1st Class Honours. You actually did them with Distinction, you little teacher's pet. Disgusting!"

Ianto sat up straight. "Why would you print out my degree?" He got up and called up the printer properties, seeing that the degree had been ordered to be printed the evening before, at half past nine.

"That's when I came home," Owen said.

Ianto stared at the screen. "That's when Jack was here." He straightened. "Oh my God!"

"What?" Owen asked.

"I need to check on something," Ianto said and left the room. "Keep an eye on Mica."

xxx

Jack startled when the light of his motion sensor started to blink red. He removed his headphones and carefully crept up the stairs to the school building's ground floor. Somewhere, a door fell closed, the echo sounding through the silent hallways. Somebody was here. Somebody who could have very well seen what he was doing.

Jack cursed and followed the noise.

xxx

"This is unbelievable," Ianto muttered, staring at Jack Harkness's degree in the weak light of Tosh's desk lamp, and then his own. He had just taken both degrees out of Tosh's filing cabinet holding the personnel files. "He copied my degree!" He heard steps echo down the hallway and startled. Nobody should be at the school at this time of night.

Hastily and worried about someone trying to steal the little the school had, he put the files back and crept out into the hallway. The corridor was lit by the dim light the lamps scattered on the school grounds provided. He saw a shadow move at the far end against the windows and quickly left Tosh's office, running as quietly as possible into the opposite direction the shadow had moved and ducking into the assembly hall.

Whoever was here didn't want anyone to know or they would have switched the lights on.

Ianto didn't want to meet anyone who went to break into schools at night. He would use the stage entrance of the assembly hall and then call the police. Hurrying down the steps of the hall past the rows of seats, he tries to keep an ear out for the intruder. He threw one last glance back towards the door before he climbed onto the stage, going to the rear to reach the stage entrance. It was locked … and that was when Ianto realised he'd left his keys in Tosh's office.

Thinking frantically, he sidled back towards to the stage to keep an eye on the door. Just when he was fumbling for his mobile, the assembly hall's door opened.

Ianto ducked behind one of the paper trees set out for a play he was currently preparing wit the theatre group. The lights went on.

Ianto closed his eyes, hoping …

"That tree you're hiding behind is rather slim."

Ianto cursed under his breath when he recognised the smug voice. Then he decided that attack was preferable to defence and stepped out from behind the tree, glaring at Jack who was sauntering down the steps towards him. "You stole my degree!"

Jack faltered in his steps, his smug expression giving way to one of startled surprise, but then he crossed his arms and shrugged. "So?"

"So I will tell Tosh tomorrow and then you'll get fired."

Jack nodded slowly. "Do you really have it in you to do that?" he asked, stepping even closer.

Ianto noticed dust in his dark hair and on his face and frowned quizzically. "What were you up to?"

"Looking for a replacement bulb in the basement. One of the shelves came down," Jack answered and jumped onto the stage. "So, have you got it in you to rat me out?"

Ianto refused to back away and Jack stepped close enough that Ianto thought he could feel his body heat through the thin muscle shirt he was wearing. An irrational thought, he knew, but still … Jack was an attractive man. He steeled his resolve. "Yes."

Jack stared him in the eyes and Ianto balled his hands to fists, forcing himself to remain in eye contact. Finally, Jack huffed a breath and turned away. "I had a few problems at university. I need this job."

Ianto sighed in relief when Jack stepped away. "It's theft and it's cheating. And sexual assault."

Jack snorted and turned back around to him, his eyebrows raised. "I gave you a roofie, yes, but don't worry, I wouldn't even touch you with a pole. I've got better offers."

Ianto gaped at him. "What? You bastard!"

"Was that the b-word?" Jack asked in mock-shock.

"Don't fuck with me, Jack!" Ianto replied.

"Don't worry, I certainly won't."

Ianto got his mobile from his jeans pocket. "I'm calling Tosh now. Or better yet, the police. Because if you aren't a teacher, you have no right being here."

Jack snagged the phone from Ianto's hand.

"Hey!" Ianto grabbed for the phone, but Jack evaded him by turning away.

"Right!" he said, raising one hand to stop Ianto from coming closer. "You should go home, sleep over this and name me your price tomorrow."

Ianto stared at him. "My price?"

"The price for you to shut up and stay that way."

Indignant, Ianto reached for his phone. "I don't want money or favours or whatever else you're offering. I just want my Year 7 back and ..." He halted, an idea occurring. For one second, he wondered whether he was desperate enough … and then decided that, yes, he definitely was. He smiled at Jack. "On second thought, there _is_ something you can do in exchange for my silence."

xxx

"Swap?" Tosh asked, a frown marring her face. Her eyes flicked between Ianto and Jack as if she wasn't quite sure what to think of them.

Jack nodded, his hands buried deep in his jeans pockets. "I have the mediator training," he recited what Ianto had told him he should say. "And the … uh ..." He halted, trying to remember. He'd only been half listening, too busy compiling a mental list of what else he'd need to dig his tunnel.

"You had that training," Ianto hinted and when Jack just looked at him, clueless, Ianto cleared his throat. "Aggressive youths."

"Oh, right!" Jack remembered. "I learned how to shut up aggressive youths."

Ianto and Tosh stared at him and he felt the eyes of the other teachers on the teachers' lounge dig into his back.

He added, "Gently."

Tosh looked at him appraisingly, her dark eyes seeming to look right through him. "Hm," she said. Then, she brushed a loose strand of black hair behind her ear and shrugged. "All right. Substitute teachers are supposed to have the harder balls anyway, so ..." She flitted her hands as if trying to tell them to leave her alone. "Fine with me."

Ianto smiled smugly at Jack while they turned away. "Good luck," he told him.

Jack scoffed. "I don't need luck," he replied. "They're children. I'll kick their arses."

Owen laughed. "It was nice knowing you, mate."


	5. Chapter 5

**5.**

Ianto was on his way to the teachers' lounge when the door to an adjacent store room opened and he was pulled inside, losing half his books in the process. "Hey!", he said, pushing his attacker away … and froze. Then he laughed. "Oh my God!"

"You didn't tell me," Jack hissed angrily, sending a small cloud of feathers flying into the dusty air with an angry gesture, "that they are bloody psychopaths!"

Ianto was still laughing, leaning against one of the shelves holding skulls and other animal bones. "What happened to you?"

"What _didn't_ happen to me?" Jack asked, starting to pace. He was covered in feathers, which stuck to a smelly dark substance doused all over him, flattening his hair to his head and making his clothes stick to his body. His appearance was only made worse by the harsh neon lights in the room, which were trying their best to keep the gloomy afternoon outside. "I grabbed a mousetrap when I tried to reach for the class log."

Ianto looked at the red welts on Jack's fingers and winced, but a smile stole itself back on his face despite himself.

"I was showered by something that smells like dung, and they bloody rigged the air condition in my car, so when I wanted to drive home to change, feathers were exploding into my face! Feathers! In my car!" He turned away, taking a deep breath.

Ianto looked down and bit his lip, trying to suppress a new wave of laughter. "What happened to your jeans?"

Part of the seat was ripped out, revealing that Jack – thankfully – was wearing underwear. He turned back around to Ianto. "They stuck me to my chair with some sort of super-glue."

"Well," Ianto said, steeling himself. "I'm not giving my Year 7 back and nobody else will volunteer to take the 10b, so you better deal with it."

Jack stalked towards him, his face a furious mask, and Ianto pressed his back to the wall while Jack towered over him. Cornered like that, Ianto swallowed and it took all his courage to look into Jack's eyes. Whatever Jack was going to say next, though, was interrupted by Tosh opening the door. "Here you are," she said. She only halted briefly at Jack's appearance. "God. My office, Jack. Now." With that, she left again.

Jack ground his jaw. "Nobody," he said to Ianto, "makes a fool of me. Believe me … they won't know what hit them."

With that he followed Tosh. Ianto breathed a sigh of relief and straightened. "Yeah," he said softly, "but this round definitely went to them."

xxx

As soon as the door to her office fell shut behind Jack, Tosh said, "You left the class unattended."

Jack gestured at himself. "They're psychopaths," he replied. "Antisocial stupid brats."

"Excuse me?" Tosh frowned disapprovingly. "I think the words you were looking for were 'educationally disadvantaged students'."

Jack stared at her in disbelief. "Educationally dis … look at me!"

Tosh sighed and sat in her chair, tapping a pen against the desk while her dark eyes looked at Jack speculatively. "I want that class under control, do you understand me? The school could become the focus of an inspection at any given time. If we lose points, we lose budget, are we clear on that?"

Jack ground his teeth together. "Yes," he said reluctantly.

"I have confidence that you are the right man for the job. Do you know how I know that?"

Jack shook his head grimly.

Tosh smiled. "You had the guts to hit the amok alarm and lie to me about it." Jack's eyes widened and Tosh laughed. "I have been a teacher for a very long time before I became the leader of the pack. Go home and get changed. And then get back to work."

xxx

"They're just children, aren't they?" Gwen asked, leaning in the door to the room Jack was living in at the moment, already clad in her sexy teacher outfit. Music was thumping up the stairs from both bars, and Jack heard Harold barking orders in the hallway.

He slid on a muscle shirt and loose-fitting jeans to get back to digging, frowning at himself in the mirror. "You have no idea," he answered. "They have no respect. Somebody needs to slap some sense into them, but I heard that's not allowed."

"Maybe you just need to be stricter with them," Gwen said, fiddling with her blouse.

"Oh, believe me," Jack answered with a grim smile, "they haven't seen the last of me. I already have a plan. Did some shopping this afternoon." He grabbed his pick axe from the bed.

"I really hope this isn't what you're using on them," Gwen said.

Jack snorted. "I wish." He kissed Gwen's cheek on his way out the door. "But this is what's going to bring me closer to the money." He winked at her and left.

"Hey!" she called after him. "That outfit plus a helmet, and you could dance for Harold in the _Nevada_."

Jack laughed.

xxx

When Jack entered the classroom the next morning, it was with sore muscles and not enough caffeine in his bloodstream. All in all, he was in the perfect mood for his plan on getting one over the 10b.

He halted on his way to his desk at the front of the room, seeing only half of the students present. "Where are the others?" he asked.

He didn't get an answer, the teenagers continuing to chat and ignore him, but when he glanced out the window, he caught sight of Carys and Bernie near the basketball field, smoking. He slammed his bag on the desk and grinned. "Class is starting," he told those present … but he only got a reaction out of them when he removed the rifle from his bag.

One girl screamed and everyone leaped out of their seats.

"Calm down!" Jack snapped and they halted when the rifle swung in their direction. "It's just a paintball rifle." He stepped towards the window and opened it. "Watch and learn."

It was deathly quiet in the room now, but everyone shuffled to the windows to look out. Carys and Bernie weren't alone. Annie and Jonah were with them, laughing about something.

Jack smirked and leaned out the window, yelling, "Class has started!"

The four teenagers didn't even turn to look at him. Bernie showed him the finger. Jack brought the rifle up to rest against his shoulder and took aim. The paintball hit Annie against the head, splashing red colour into her hair.

Carys screamed. "You're bleeding!" She took the next load against her shoulder, blooming yellow over her top. She stared at Jack, now seeming to realise that the rifle wasn't real. "Are you crazy!? This is Forever 21, you retard!"

"Into the class room," Jack replied. "Now!"

Annie looked at Carys and then started to trot towards the building, trying to brush the colour out of her hair. Carys followed her slowly. Bernie and Jonah didn't move but Jack hadn't expected the boys to give in as easily as the girls. They looked nervous, though, ready for flight or fight.

"Didn't you hear me?!" Jack asked.

They looked at each other, then flight won over and they started to run for the fence. Jack got Jonah into the thigh. He went down onto the tarmac of the basketball field and stared back at Jack in loathing. Bernie managed to climb the fence half-way before Jack hit him in the back and he lost his grip, falling onto the grass.

"Move your skinny arses!" With that, Jack slammed the window closed, knowing that ignoring them now would have more of an effect than watching them trot back towards the building.

xxx

"Right," Jack said, staring at the students with his arms crossed and leaning back against his desk. He'd kept his leather jacket on, knowing it made him look a bit bulkier than he actually was. He wasn't above cheap tricks. Jonah and Bernie had just arrived, slinking to their seats in sulky silence. It was quiet, everyone sitting at their table, not looking at each other.

Most of them didn't even look at him.

Jack smiled. "I think that cleared the chain of command in here. In the future, you get your arses in here on time and behave."

Carys looked up from trying to wipe away the stain on her top. "And now? We didn't do our homework anyway."

"Do I look like I care, princess?" Jack asked. "You're sitting at your table, everything else doesn't matter to me."

Annie frowned at him as if she wasn't sure he was telling the truth.

Bernie scoffed. "You're our teacher."

"Yes," Jack answered, "but your class isn't worth the time anyone puts into you, so I won't bother to even start. In a few weeks, you'll all be failing your GCSEs anyway."

That got him a few rebellious looks.

Jack got a prospect from the local building centre out of his bag. "You don't believe me?" he asked. "I only started here yesterday but I already know that you're the losers on this school. Everyone in the teachers' lounge is laughing about you because you're just plain stupid. I can do whatever I want with you, nobody cares. You're dirt under their shoes." He opened the prospect and looked at the offers the centre had in regards to underground construction.

Nobody said anything but there was the distinct sound of soft sniffling, which Jack ignored, and the tension was so thick he could have cut it with a knife. He pretended to be engrossed in the prospect, having learned in life and in prison alike that ignoring bullies was most of the time the way to success. He'd marked his territory, now he had to hold it by making them see how unafraid he was of them.

The knock on the door seemed absurdly loud in the room. Ianto entered carefully. "Sorry, do you have chalk?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Go check."

Ianto sighed and went to the blackboard. Jack heard him pause on his way back to the door and then Ianto stepped loser to him. "Uh … Jack," he said softly.

"What?" Jack snapped.

"Your student's crying."

Jack looked up searchingly, finding the source of the sniffling. "Carys!"

She looked at him, startled, tears running down her cheeks, tracking mascara and eye shadow across her face. "What?"

"Cry quietly!"

She whimpered and bit her lip, burying her head in her arms.

"Happy now?" Jack asked Ianto.

Ianto frowned. "Not exactly." He seemed to hesitate for a moment and then said, "Listen, it's normally not my business, but do you even care?"

Jack sighed. "About what?"

"They respect you." Ianto leaned closer and whispered, "They usually don't respect anyone."

"Don't you have a class to get to?"

"I think something here is off. They look as if they were traumatised … and why are some of them covered in paint?"

"They made name badges and spilled paint on themselves, now get out of here and don't tell me what they need." He flicked the prospect, getting back to his reading. "I know exactly how to handle them."

Ianto huffed a breath. "And I don't? I'm a teacher, too."

"And yet, they respect me and not you."

Ianto stared at him, then he looked around once more. "You know what? I was wrong. They don't respect you, they are scared."

Jack chuckled. "That's one and the same."

"You don't actually think so, do you?"

"Get out!"

Ianto glared at him and left.

xxx

Jack didn't know why Ianto's words bothered him. He tried to get them out of his head by working harder on digging the tunnel. He was making progress, but since he was alone, it went a bit too slow for his taste. He'd only managed to dig about two feet into the ground, though now that he'd hacked away part of the concrete wall of the basement and was starting to work through the softer ground with a shovel and the pick axe. He was speeding up.

He heard his mobile ring just before seven and quickly crawled back out of the tunnel into the basement, picking up. "Yeah."

" _Jack, it's Harold. Gina's back from rehab, so you need to get your things and get lost."_

Jack closed his eyes, cursing silently. "Come on, Harold."

" _No discussion. You're here within one hour or I will put your things out on the street for the whores and crack addicts."_

With that, he hung up. Jack stared at the mobile. "Damn it."

xxx

Throwing a box with his belongings into the car, Jack asked angrily, "And where am I supposed to sleep?"

Harold stood in the door to the _Exotic_ , his suit immaculate, his blond hair styled carefully and his arms crossed. In the milky light of the setting sun and framed by the door to the strip bar, he didn't look like he belonged. He smiled at two men who left the _Exotic_. "Come again", he called after them, but his friendly smile melted off his face when he turned back to Jack. "Why should I care?"

Gwen handed Jack another one of his boxes. "You could sleep in my room."

Alonso was leaning in the door to the _Nevada_ , watching. "Or in mine."

Harold scoffed. "And where will the both of you go to shag your clients? No way."

Jack slammed the car door shut. "What's the matter, Harold? I'm working all night anyway. I won't bother them. I just need to get few hours of sleep in the afternoons and early mornings when they don't have clients anyway."

"Listen," Harold said, stepping closer. "You're a nice guy for a criminal, but the thing is that you and the police don't get along and sooner or later, they are going to turn up here. My bars are clean bars and my boys and girls are all legal. I don't want any trouble."

"You own a brothel," Jack said. "That _is_ trouble."

"I own strip bars."

"And you have a crack lab in your attic!"

"Exactly," Harold answered. "The last I need is a raid!" With that, he went back inside.

Alonso looked sadly at Jack and then hugged him before returning to the _Nevada_. Gwen kissed Jack's cheek. "Where are you going to go?"

Jack shrugged. "Sleep in the car maybe."

Gwen bit her lip. "I'm sorry. If I had a flat-"

"It's okay. It's not your fault."

Gwen sighed, straightening the lapels of his leather jacket. "Look, I'll ask around. Maybe one of the girls or boys will take you home with them."

"Don't bother," Jack replied. "I'll survive." He opened the car door.

"Don't be a stranger," Gwen said when he closed it.

xxx

The rain was beating down on the roof of the car while Jack tried to get comfortable enough on the folded-back passenger seat. The cold evening air was filtering in through the half-open window and he breathed it in, the sound of trains going past towards Cardiff main station calming and lulling him to sleep. After Harold had kicked him out, Jack wanted to get in a couple of hours of sleep before returning to the school. He'd considered sleeping in the basement there or in one of the store rooms, but deemed it too risky in the end. Ianto was suspicious already and certainly not stupid. The risk of being caught sleeping was too big.

The car would have to do.

Just when he'd started to drift off, water dropping onto his face woke him. The wind had turned, spraying rain into the car through the open window. He tried to roll it up, but first, it didn't react and then it just fell down to vanish completely within the door. He tried to roll it back up but the handle was stuck. Jack cursed, sitting in the dark and thinking frantically while the wind picked up, ushering more rain through the window.

Jack sighed.

xxx

Dinner was late this evening and was always a quiet affair. Ianto had tried his hand at cooking, but he would certainly be the first to admit that he wasn't overly good at it. Mica and Owen were eating but they weren't exactly ecstatic either. Ianto's sister Rhiannon had been a good cook and Ianto thought sometimes that he was failing at yet another thing he should be able to provide Mica with. He cleared his throat, the sound loud in the kitchen Rhiannon had made cosy over the years. He didn't dare change anything and he didn't really want to anyway. "How was school?" he asked.

Mica shrugged, moving the gravy-soaked potato mash from one side of her plate to the other. She was wearing one of her father's baggy shirts again and her dark hair was pinned up haphazardly. She didn't answer.

Ianto exchanged a glance with Owen, who just shrugged and took another sip of his beer. Ianto waited another moment and then continued, "I noticed that you were skyping with Emma again this afternoon." He ignored the warning look from Owen from across the table. "You see each other at school everyday. What more do you need to talk about?"

Mica glared at him for a second and then ducked her head again. "None of your business."

Ianto sighed. "Mica, I'm just trying ..."

She looked up at him. "You're just trying to what?"

"You want to stay here with me, don't you? We need to at least be friendly with each other."

"And we aren't?"

Ianto bit his lip. "You never talk to me. Not properly about how you feel or what you're up to."

"What I'm talking about with Emma doesn't concern you," Mica replied.

Ianto pressed his lips together. "Is it about boys? Because I think that I can give you some advice in that area."

Owen choked on his beer.

Mica stared at him in shock, her dark eyes wide. "Christ, Uncle Ianto! Shut up!"

"I'm just saying," Ianto replied, "that you're a teenager and at the moment, you probably feel confused and insecure. I mean … I don't want you not to date or experiment or anything, but I just want you to be honest about it with me."

"Why do you care?" Mica asked.

Ianto dropped his fork. "Because you're my niece and I love you. Is that so hard to understand?"

"You're trying too hard, Uncle Ianto," Mica answered.

"Am I?" Ianto asked. He looked at Owen.

"Jesus," Owen muttered. "Stop involving me, Ianto, I'm starting to feel like a gay step-father." He emptied his beer. "We're not married."

Something outside in the garden squeaked and then rumpled loud enough that the sound carried over the torrent of rain coming down. They all looked towards the window.

"What was that?" Mica asked, alarmed.

Owen went to the window. "Shit, there's light in our shed."

"Somebody's in our shed?" Ianto asked, getting up to look outside as well. "Mica, go upstairs and close the door." He went into the hallway and grabbed Mica's hockey stick, waiting for Owen who got the torch out of the kitchen drawer. He didn't switch it on, though, when they stepped out the patio door into the garden. The light of a torch was moving around the shed. Ianto swallowed, tightening his grip around the stick while Owen grabbed the shovel that was leaning against the house.

Together, they stepped onto the grass and towards the shed. The rain had them both wet within seconds, the grass squelching underneath their shoes. They took position at the door of the shed. Ianto raised the stick and nodded at Owen who switched on the torch and pulled open the door, raising the shovel to strike.

A man turned around to them in surprise and Ianto swung the stick, hitting him in the chest. He charged in and raised the stick again, but paused when Owen grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Wait, wait, wait!"

Now, Ianto recognised as well who the intruder was. "Jack?"

Owen stared at him while Jack tried to shield his eyes from the light. "What the hell?" Owen asked, having a look around the little shed. Ianto saw a sleeping bag on the floor and some boxes, one of them open and apparently filled with clothes. Owen looked at Jack. "Were you bunking down here?"

Jack rubbed his arm where Ianto had hit him and shrugged. "Uh … yes."

xxx

Owen and Ianto were standing at the door to the kitchen, watching Jack sitting at the table and wolfing down lasagne as if he hadn't eaten properly in days. Music filtered downstairs from Mica's room. As soon as her curiosity about who their unexpected guest was had been satisfied, she'd disappeared. Probably to chat with Emma about what she thought of the situation, Ianto thought bitterly, instead of talking to him. Not that he didn't want Mica to have friends or secrets with those friends. But he felt like Mica had nothing but secrets from him, and in light of the trauma that losing he family had been, he was worried. Especially since Mica seemed to like Bernie rather a lot, who Ianto thought could be a bad influence on anyone – even a nun.

Jack glared sullenly at him and then shovelled another serving onto his plate.

Ianto softly said, "I'm telling you that bloke is a tit."

"So what?" Owen asked. "The fucking house is big enough for one more and we can use the money to finally get the pipes and the heating fixed. They've been dodgy for weeks. It's only a matter of time before they break down."

Ianto glared at him. "The 'fucking house' is the house my sister and her family used to live in. I don't want him here." He crossed his arms. "And you only pay fifty quid a month. That's not a lot."

"He doesn't know that, does he?" Owen asked. "Tell him he has to pay more."

Ianto frowned, but was tempted.

"So?" Jack asked, interrupting their hushed conversation. "Can I stay?"

"One night," Ianto answered. "For free. If you want to have the room in the attic for a while, you'll have to pay 100 quid a week beforehand. Food is included in that."

Jack looked him up and down, chewing thoughtfully. "That's a bit steep," he said. "I'm good at maintenance, though. Good with my hands." He grinned wolfishly and Ianto blushed. Jack's grin became even more lewd as his eyes stayed firmly on Ianto. "I'm sure there's always stuff that needs _doing_ around here."

Ianto cleared his throat and shifted, not wanting to show Jack that his innuendos didn't go unnoticed. "So?"

"Fifty quid a week and I fix whatever … comes up."

"Stop that now," Ianto snapped.

Jack grinned.

Ianto let out a breath and looked at Owen who shrugged. "I can't do maintenance for shit and you can't even cook so I don't hold out much hope."

Ianto nodded at Jack. "Okay. Fifty quid a week, you fix things … and you will start to properly work with the 10b."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Are you serious?"

Ianto just stared at him.

Jack sighed. "Fine."

"Fine."

Owen smiled. "Fine."


	6. Chapter 6

**6.**

"It's not much," Ianto said, switching on the light of the room in the attic. Ianto had told Owen once that he didn't know what Rhiannon and Johnny had planned to do with the room. The kids and parents had been sleeping on the first floor, where now Ianto, Owen and Mica had their rooms. The attic room had apparently already been an ongoing project of Johnny's, though, painted half yellow and half white – unfinished. Since their deaths, Ianto had used it as a storage for things he might want to give away as soon as Mica made a decision on the matter. Boxes with clothes and toys were piled in one corner. David's bed and closet had been pushed against the wall. The armchair, desk and shelf from Rhiannon and Johnny's room looked a bit out of place, not matching the bed or closet of their son.

Jack went inside and dropped one of his boxes on the bed. A small cloud of dust rose from he mattress. Owen handed him sheets. "You have your own bathroom at least," he said, nodding towards the door. "The shower's a bid dodgy, though. If you want to fix something, you can start there."

Ianto added, "And I'd appreciate it if you would be quiet after ten in the evening. Mica needs her sleep."

Jack rolled his eyes, draping his leather jacket over the chair. "Don't worry. I will be gone most evenings."

Owen frowned. "Where to?"

"I work in a club to earn a bit extra."

Ianto pulled a face. "Well, it's your decision on whether you manage to prepare for class."

Jack scoffed and sat on the bed.

"Do you need anything else?"

"I'm fine," Jack said.

Ianto nodded, turned away and went down the stairs. Owen looked after him but remained behind, checking to make sure that there were no leaks in the roof. Rain was still coming down, sounding loud up here.

"He needs a shag," Jack said into the quiet between them.

Owen snorted. "Are you volunteering?"

Jack smirked and seemed a bit relieved that Owen was sharing his joke. "Hell, no."

"Really?" Owen asked, leaning against the door jamb. "Because you keep staring at him when you think he isn't looking."

"I'm not blind," Jack said. "But I can't get over the fact that he's a straight-laced wuss."

Owen shook his head, becoming earnest. "The last year or so was tough on him."

"The last year or so was tough on me, too. Doesn't mean I get all high and mighty."

"No, you just developed a lovely personality."

Jack chuckled. "I had that from the start."

Owen smirked and stepped further into the room, tucking his hands into his jeans pockets. "I guess I should give you the obligatory warning."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Which is?"

"Don't mess with him. His last boyfriend was an arse, he doesn't need another guy like that, especially now with the whole situation with his family."

"Don't worry. I won't touch him."

Owen sighed. "Now, if I could only trust you." With that he turned away and left, closing the door behind him.

xxx

Ianto didn't know how it happened, but when he came to school the next morning, he was listed as Jack's partner to take the 10b and Mica's class, the 10a, to the swimming pool – apparently because Mica's teacher Amy suddenly didn't feel well enough to go swimming. Ianto thought that Amy's illness might have to do more with having to go with the 10b … and maybe even with having to go with Jack. He wasn't exactly popular among the teachers either. His rude and distant behaviour didn't only come out in Ianto's presence. Being forced to go to the pool with him, though … Ianto took it in stride, knowing that Jack at least had some sort of control over the 10b and Ianto had some sort of control over Jack. Besides, the students usually all loved getting out of school and keeping them in check should be easier when they were having fun.

It turned out that he was right … for the most part. The students enjoyed getting out of school ... a bit too much.

Ianto blew the whistle, the sharp sound echoing through the tiled hall of the swimming pool, and pointed at Bernie and Jonah. "No jumping off the pool edge!"

They looked at him, laughed and jumped anyway. Ianto rolled his eyes and turned towards Carys and Annie, who were sitting by the side doing their nails. "And you both a have doctor's note?"

"Yes," Annie said, rubbing her stomach. "You don't know how it is, Mr. Jones, but I'm in so much pain."

Carys nodded and grimaced. It didn't look very convincing. "It's girl stuff, Mr. Jones."

Ianto turned away with a sigh, tugging his t-shirt into place roughly to vent some of his annoyance. "Everyone, please start swimming two rounds to warm up and then ..." He halted when he caught sight of Jack leaving the changing rooms. He was only wearing swimming trunks which were clinging to his legs from a quick shower, water droplets running down his toned chest. Ianto's mouth went dry and he quickly turned away, fumbling with the whistle to hang it around his neck and cursing himself for not making sure that Jack knew teachers usually didn't go bare-chested to these classes.

And certainly not wet.

"OMG," he heard Carys say breathlessly. "He's chung."

He had no idea what the word meant but he couldn't help but agree with her tone of voice. It took all of his control not to look Jack up and down when he turned back around and saw him approaching. He was afraid, though, that he couldn't stop the blush staining his cheeks.

Jack stopped in front of Ianto. "So, what should I do?"

Ianto swallowed and forced himself to look into Jack's eyes instead of staring at his chest. He didn't know what was wrong with him. He shouldn't feel so attracted to Jack, he was an arrogant, cheating arse. "Uh … just … keep an eye on everyone so nobody drowns." His eyes slipped downwards and he forced them up again. "And you can go and put a shirt on or something because we don't actually have to go into the water."

Jack put his hands on his hips. "Aren't we supposed to be role models?"

Ianto frowned, confused at the question. "Uh … yes. I mean ..." He yelped when Jack grabbed him around the waist and pushed him back a few steps. He only let go of Ianto to give him one last shove. Ianto fell into the water, but he immediately struggled back to the surface, looking up at Jack who was grinning down at him. Ianto coughed and climbed out of the water. His t-shirt stuck to his chest wetly and he was glad that he'd forgone the tracksuit bottoms and wore his swimming trunks instead. "You're such a jerk!" The words didn't come out with enough heat, though. Jack laughed and looked even more attractive with that bright grin lighting up his blue eyes and Ianto felt a dangerous fondness settle in his stomach.

Carys came to stand next to Jack. "Hey, Mr. Jones, the spiked hair looks great on you. Very lush."

Jack picked her up and threw her into the water as well. Carys vanished with a squeak, coming back to the surface quickly. "Mr. Harkness!" she screeched, outraged.

"Don't even start!" Jack replied. "You're here to do sports. You can shove that faked doctor's note up your arse. Now swim!"

"But-"

"Swim!"

She pouted and started to paddle away clumsily.

Ianto looked after her and then at Jack, wringing water out of his shirt. "So, that's your secret?" he asked. "You yell at them?"

"The worst thing you can do is try and coddle them. These kids earn respect with their friends for being tough, so you get their respect by being tough. Once you managed that, you can start and change their attitudes," Jack answered.

Ianto paused in trying to get his t-shirt as dry as possible. "That is the most intelligent thing I've heard you say until now."

"I know a thing or two about their mindsets," Jack replied and walked away to gather everyone at the head of the pool.

xxx

Jack decided that he actually liked teaching sports. It was something he was good at anyway and didn't require too much knowledge but mostly practice. He had always been more of a practical kind. He noticed Ianto watching him almost constantly, throwing a smile his direction ever now and again.

Jack found that he quite liked it.

When the class ended, he clapped his hands, getting everyone's attention. "Right, that was it. Go change and go home."

The students left the pool, splashing each other with water, chatting and laughing. Jack watched them for a moment, but got distracted when Ianto approached him, smiling tentatively. "I'd like to say thank you."

Jack frowned quizzically. "What for?"

"It's usually harder to get them to participate properly."

"You weren't so bad yourself," Jack said and it was true. It was obvious that Ianto loved his job and he had the patience of a saint, ignoring jokes and slights thrown his way as if he didn't mind or trying to explain why they shouldn't be uttered.

It seemed to be common knowledge at school that Ianto was gay. If Jack hadn't known before, he would certainly know now. Especially Bernie seemed fond of reminding him what he thought of it whenever he could. Jack had no idea why Ianto didn't defend himself but he couldn't help but develop a small form of respect for his dignity.

Ianto turned away and Jack's gaze was drawn down automatically, caressing the broad back and narrow hips to settle on Ianto's arse.

"Take that back!" someone yelled and Jack turned around, startled.

Bernie was pushing Jonah backwards.

"Fuck you!" Jonah answered.

Before Jack knew what was going on, Bernie had punched Jonah and then jumped on top of him. Their wet feet slid on the tiles and they fell, landing rather hardly.

Jack held Ianto back when he tried to intervene and approached the boys himself. "Hey!" he yelled, pulling Bernie off of Jonah and pushing him away a few steps, holding him back when he tried to attack anew. He was surprisingly strong. Jack had trouble keeping him in check. "Calm down!"

"He said that I want to shag her." Bernie pointed at Mica, who was standing near the changing rooms with a towel wrapped around her and seemed startled to suddenly be at the centre of attention.

Jack frowned. "So what?"

"As if, she's fucking ugly."

Mica's eyes widened and she ducked into the changing room. Jonah grinned, wiping blood off his lip.

Jack stared at Bernie. "Is that all?"

"Let me go!" Bernie demanded, pulling at Jack's grasp. "Let me go, you wanker!"

"Not before you've calmed down!"

"Not before you let go of me!"

"That's enough!" Jack pushed him further backwards, towards the pool. "I'm going to force you to cool off if you don't do it yourself."

Bernie pulled a disgusted grimace. "You're not allowed to touch me, you pervert! I know what you are!"

"Then tell me," Jack said challengingly, towering over him with his hands on his hips, "tell me exactly what I am."

Bernie seemed to see something in his gaze that scared him because he took a step back … but he didn't shut up. "You're a fag. And you shouldn't be allowed to teach children, just like that other pervert."

Jack straightened his shoulders. "Back down, now."

Bernie seemed to hesitate for a moment, then he kicked him into the groin. Jack was surprised and certainly not prepared, so he didn't block the kick. He doubled over with a groan, distantly hearing Ianto calling his name and then Bernie's in warning. Bernie smirked at him and Jack reached the end of his line. He jumped towards him and pushed him into the pool, following behind immediately.

"Jack!" Ianto yelled, but Jack ignored him. As soon as Bernie came up gasping for air, he grabbed him and pushed him under the water again.

Bernie struggled, managing to escape his hand and coming up to gasp for air. "You can't do that!" he sputtered. "You can't do that!"

Jack pushed him under again, just letting him come up to say, "I didn't hear you apologise!"

"Faggot!" Bernie screamed Jack pushed him back down.

A woman who had been swimming by was staring at him, apparently not sure whether she should intervene. "Are you a teacher?"

"Yes," Jack answered. "Why?" He let Bernie come up again.

"I'm sorry!" Bernie screamed, grasping for the edge of the pool. "I'm sorry."

Jack pulled him closer roughly. "Apologise to Mr. Jones."

Bernie sobbed. "Sorry."

Jack let him go and Bernie pulled himself out of the water. Jack turned to the woman once more. "I'm just a substitute teacher, though." He left the pool as well, the dull throb in his groin making it hard to stand upright.

Ianto was helping Bernie to his feet. "Are you mad?" he asked Jack.

"I taught him a lesson!"

"With violence?!" Ianto replied, wrapping Bernie into a towel. "Christ, Jack, don't you know that they copy what they see adults do?"

With that, he turned away, trying to calm Bernie down who just shrugged him off. Jack was left standing at the pool.


	7. Chapter 7

**7.**

Ianto's thumb was rubbing the tape holding the plastic sheet over Jack's broken passenger window, still talking to Bernie's father on his mobile. "We thought," he said, "that maybe we could get together and talk about how this could happen."

Bernie's father hissed a breath. _"If we have to."_

Ianto glanced at Jack who was sulking in the driver's seat. "We just want to avoid the police getting involved," he said. "I mean, we can settle this among ourselves, right? We're all adults here."

" _I didn't want to involve the police anyway,"_ Bernie's father said. _"Were you the bloke who-"_

"Me?" Ianto interrupted. "No, no, that was-"

" _Let me talk to him."_

Ianto handed Jack the phone, who at first didn't want to take it but then reluctantly gave in. "Harkness?"

Ianto watched him listen with an impassive face. It had been his idea to call Bernie's father before the boy would arrive at home and tell his own version of the story. Jack had been against calling, apparently seeing nothing wrong with his behaviour.

Now he turned his head to look at Ianto, seeming surprised. "Huh," he finally said. "Okay." He gave a nod. "Yes, bye." With that, he hung up.

"What did he say?" Ianto asked.

"That Bernie is a little bastard and that I can slap him whenever he's causing trouble because that's the only thing that helps."

Ianto's eyes widened, dread settling in his belly. "Oh God, that's awful. We need to help him." He saw Jack roll his eyes. "What?" he asked. "You disagree?"

Jack scoffed and handed him his mobile back. "You want to help Bernie, that's fine, but there are other kids like him. Loads of them. So whatever you do, it has no use anyway. You can't help all of them."

Ianto frowned. "So you think it's not worth the effort?"

Jack shrugged.

Ianto looked at him, waiting for an answer … and finally realised that he wouldn't get one. "You know that an abusive home can lead to criminal acts later on?"

Jack's blue eyes locked on his, defiant.

"We can nip this in the bud," Ianto said. "That's our job."

Jack snorted. "Not every teacher would agree with you."

"That doesn't make it any less true." He sighed. "Let's have dinner."

"Where?"

"I know an Ethiopian place."

Jack snorted a laugh. "I need real meat," he answered. "I know a place."

xxx

Jack claimed a table close to the poles where the girls of the _Exotic_ were warming up for the evening customers. At the moment, the bar was still closed. Most of the girls weren't even dressed for work yet, chatting and laughing. Some of the men from the _Nevada_ were hanging about as well, making use of the fact no loud music was thumping through the room for once by playing cards or watching telly in a corner.

Ianto was sitting across from Jack, stiffly looking around and hesitantly eating his spaghetti. He'd followed Jack inside only reluctantly and had seemed a bit shocked at Gwen kissing Jack's lips in greeting and leering at Ianto, offering a discount for "any friend of Jack's".

Jack smiled at him now. "The food here is really good. The whores are great cooks. Most of them have children, you know."

Ianto stared at him. "Occupational hazard, I guess."

Jack turned back to his burger with a smirk.

"You know," Ianto said and seemed to shake his reluctance off, focusing on his meal, "you should talk to Bernie again. I think he needs to learn to compensate his aggressions in a different way."

Gwen took the pole on the stage next to them and started to warm up.

Ianto glanced at her and quickly averted his eyes when he saw how scantily dressed she was. "I'm worried about him and about the others. Suzie told me that she did the time capsule with them that every Year 10 buries behind the building and Bernie and Jonah said in their letters that they want to become criminals. Carys wants to win _Britain's Got Talent_ and Annie wants to have as many children as possible to get money off the state."

"Are you always thinking about the job?"

Gwen leaned back, shortly blocking Jack's view of Ianto. She winked at him and mouthed "Cute". Jack rolled his eyes at her.

Ianto cleared his throat. "We have responsibility."

"They're not _our_ children."

Gwen crouched down. "Is the food okay?"

"Yes, thanks," Ianto said. "Could you please just … go to another pole. We're kind of having a work thing here." He smiled at her.

Gwen shrugged and left.

Ianto looked at Jack. "It's our job to make sure they are all right. It's bad enough everyone thinks teachers are lazy, but I want to make a difference. Even when they act like monsters – they're still children."

"Do you really think that every child is a little flower just waiting to be watered?" Jack asked mockingly.

Ianto frowned at him, his eyes narrowed. "I think that many children didn't learn to believe in themselves and don't know right from wrong. And if their parents miss out on it and we don't tell them then … I don't know. They go to prison."

Jack stared at him. His teachers certainly had never cared about him like Ianto did for the 10b. He wondered how different his life could have turned out to be if he'd had someone like Ianto in his life.

Sheila stopped at their table with a tray. "Right, boys, I've got your Morning Wood," she said, setting down a cocktail with a banana cut to look like a penis in front of Ianto, "and the Licking Vagina." She set the other brightly coloured cocktail topped by a provocatively cut fig in front of Jack and left.

Ianto stared at the banana with wide eyes.

Jack smirked. "You can eat it, don't be such a wuss."

"It's a penis," Ianto replied carefully.

"Am I supposed to believe you never had one in your mouth? Don't go all vanilla on me." Jack shook his head. "You're never going to get a guy into bed like that. They'll all think you're uptight."

Ianto glared at him. "I'm not uptight, how many times do I have to say so? I can be very … wild if I want to be."

"If you do one wild thing right now," Jack said, "I swear I will help you turn the 10b into better human beings."

Ianto looked at him as if he wasn't quite sure Jack was telling the truth. "You will?"

Jack nodded.

A grin started to spread over Ianto's face and he got up. He walked past Jack and when Jack turned to let his eyes follow him, he saw that Alonso had entered the bar in his dancing outfit and was talking to Harold. Ianto walked straight up to him and grabbed him into a kiss so hot, that Jack had to swallow. Harold was getting a rather speculative look on his face that told Jack he would love to offer Ianto a pole in the _Nevada_ , while Alonso returned the kiss eagerly.

The girls started to whistle and clap and Gwen wrapped her arms around Jack's neck, whispering into his ear, "Is that a ruler in your pants, Mr. Teacher, or are you just happy to see him?"


	8. Chapter 8

**8.**

"What game?" Bernie asked and leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed. "I don't want to play a game."

Jack already regretted following the advice from the book Ianto had handed him the evening before. It was a guide on how to handle aggressive students and the man on the cover had looked like an uptight wuss. If Jack hadn't promised Ianto to help, he wouldn't have read one word of it.

Ianto shook his head. "It's a role play." He had joined them, saying he wanted to help Jack out. Jack thought that he actually wanted to make sure he was keeping his promise.

Carys scoffed. " _Fifty Shades of Grey_ or what?"

"No that kind of role play."

Jack said, "Annie, you want to get married as soon as you're eighteen?"

Annie was playing with her blond hair, twirling it around her fingers while she answered, "And have four children. 'Cause then I get four times child benefits."

"Okay, you play the wife and Bernie, you play the husband."

Bernie pulled a face. Annie smiled brightly and got up to walk towards Jack at the front of the classroom. Bernie followed her reluctantly when Jack glowered at him and flexed his fist in warning. Some of the other students snickered. Jack silenced them with a glare and stood to the side with Ianto, watching while Annie leaned against Jack's desk. "Aw!" she said, starting the game. "Thank you, honey, this is a posh flat for our family."

"Piss off and make dinner, I'm hungry," Bernie answered, gaining laughter from the other boys in class.

"Hey!", Jack interrupted."Shut up and do this right." He looked at Annie. "Do you have a job?"

She frowned in disgust. "No! I'm married."

Jack looked at Bernie. "What about you?"

Bernie snorted. "Fuck work."

"So there won't be a posh flat," Jack said. "Just you two and your four brats in a tiny hole on some council estate. Go on."

Annie crossed her arms. "You have no right to talk to me like that. We just got married."

Bernie scoffed. "I married you so that someone will clean my flat and cook my meals while I go out shagging whores."

Ianto stiffened beside him and wanted to say something but Jack shook his head at him. He snickered along with the other students and then asked, "How are you going to shag whores if you don't have money to pay them?"

"I'll have money," Bernie groused.

"From your criminal career?" Jack asked. "Someone like you won't last a year before the police will catch up and then you'll go to prison to be someone's bitch."

Bernie frowned. "You're just saying that because you have to because you're a teacher."

"I'm saying that because school is important," Jack answered.

"Fuck school!"

"Mind your language, you arsehole!" Jack said. He looked at the class. "Do you really think that's how life works out? That you just happen to be discovered in some dumb telly show or that you just happen to make a lot of money committing crimes or that you can just lay back and let the state pay for your life? That's no how it works."

Carys glared at him spitefully. "And you would know. Fancy bloke having enough money and brains to got to university. Not everyone does!"

It was quiet for a long moment. Then Carys got up and left the room, wiping her eyes. Ianto looked at Jack and followed her. Jack put his hands on his hips and took a deep breath. "Not everyone does," he said with a nod. "But everyone should do their best because if you do, you will make something out of your life. Maybe you'll never be rich, maybe it's going to be tough but at least you can say you did your best and you did it honestly and that will give you a good feeling. I should know, because I will never get to feel that way." And maybe Jack didn't fully believe in what he was saying, but he'd always kept promises he'd made and he'd always been a good con man. "I was wrong when I told you at the beginning that you're the losers in this school."

Jonah raised his eyebrows. "We aren't?"

"Of course you are," Jack answered. "But you can do better. You can show them that you are everything they don't see in you." He opened his bag and got out a book. " _Romeo and Juliet_ from William Shakespeare," he said. "I'm told it's a classic."

Bernie scoffed. "It's not even written in English!"

"Yeah, fuck you, Shakespeare!" Jonah agreed.

Jack shrugged, leaning against his desk. "I have never read it."

Everyone stared at him in disbelief.

Annie shook her head. "But you're a teacher."

"Still," Jack replied. "I haven't."

The door opened and Ianto entered, Carys following him. She sat down in her seat, but avoided everyone's eyes.

"Mr. Jones here," Jack said, "has read it, though. Several times."

Bernie muttered, "That's gay."

"He will help us understand it and we will write a test on this," Jack continued, ignoring him, "and if anyone in this class doesn't participate, that's too bad, but you will be sitting here, quietly, and at least give those who want to do better a chance." He smirked. "Or they will have to deal with me."

xxx

"She wants to be a veterinarian," Ianto said, stirring the soup. "Apparently, somebody got it into her head that she can forget about that because she doesn't have the money or intelligence to study." He winced and looked up at Jack who was leaning against the kitchen counter with his arms crossed. "She didn't come out and say it but I think that it was mainly her parents telling her that." He sighed, his focus going back to the soup. "Imagine that … parents not backing up their children."

Jack shrugged. "Can't trust parents."

"Really?" Ianto asked, looking at him. "That's what you say to that?"

Jack shifted slightly as if uncomfortable, then he met Ianto's eyes. "I never met my father. My mother gave me into the child care system when my brother died. I haven't seen her since."

Ianto swallowed, one hand reaching out to touch Jack's arm in sympathy. "You grew up in a foster family?"

"Several," Jack answered with a shrug. "As I said, you can't trust parents."

Ianto considered digging deeper, but Jack's mobile chimed and he grabbed it off the counter, looking almost relieved to have a way to back out of the topic. When he looked at his mobile, though, he made a noise that was somewhere between a groan and surprise.

"All right?" Ianto asked.

"Yeah," Jack answered and tucked the phone into his jeans pocket. "But I can't stay for dinner."

"You should eat before you go to that club to work half-way through the night."

"I can't," Jack said, "I'll grab something on the way."

With that, he was gone.

xxx

"20.000," John said with a grin, looking Jack up and down, the influence of alcohol already clear in his clouded blue eyes. "And then it's off to California, just the two of us, love."

Gwen set down another round of drinks for them, giving Jack a warning look. He nodded at her to leave them alone. "I don't know, John."

John sighed in annoyance, sipping his beer. "It's a money transport. My cousin has been watching it for six weeks. It's a safe deal."

Jack was all too familiar with John's 'safe deals'. They were rarely that. His last safe deal had put both of them in prison. He shrugged. "I'm still doing my own thing, John."

John rolled his eyes. "You would just have to drive the car, Jack. Just the get-away car."

"Christ, John, this is your first day of freedom. Look for a proper job, would you?"

John stared at him in disbelief, then he chuckled and brushed one hand through his messy, dark-blond hair. "Fuck, Jack. You can't be serious." He shook his head. "You're in love with that little teacher and now you actually want to do better in life."

Jack stared at him. "How do you know about Ianto?"

"You brought him here, Jack. Whores gossip." John shrugged. "And I was with Alonso before you came. He was quite impressed by your boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend." Jack got up, grabbed his jacket and tried to walk out the door, but John caught his arm. Jack shrugged him off and turned around, glaring in warning.

John seemed to hesitate for a moment, then he scoffed in disbelief. "What about the job then?"

"Not interested!" Jack snapped and left.

Once outside, he walked a small distance and then leaned against the wall. He couldn't believe he had just done that. The reason for turning down John hadn't even been Jack's plan of laying low until he'd found the money. It had been Ianto.

And the kids.

He buried his hands in his jacket against the cold. His fingers curled around the small book he'd shoved in there and he knew before taking it out what it would be. He'd purchased _Romeo & Juliet_ only yesterday but it already looked a bit battered, some of the pages marked.

"You're actually reading it," Gwen said, stopping next to him.

Jack didn't answer.

"What is it about?"

"People who fall in love and can't be together." He smile sadly. "They come from different worlds."

"Hm," Gwen said. "Like in _Avatar_?" Jack smiled at her and Gwen pulled him into a hug. "I think it's great you're doing this. Even if it's just to get him to spread his legs."

"It's not just that," Jack said. "I mean … it's not just because I have to … the kids are all right, really."

"Really?" Gwen asked.

"They just need someone who respects them without taking any shit."

Gwen smiled at him, brushing her dark hair behind her ears. "You're all right, too, you know? Don't let John drag you down again, yeah? I like you out of prison."

"Hm," Jack said, "the showers were great, though."

Gwen snorted a laugh.

xxx

Jack was close enough to the money that he started using a shovel. He was quite impressed with his work and the speed at which he' progressed. Tonight, though, he didn't feel that motivated. Maybe it had to do with John, or with the way he started to feel whenever Ianto was there, or with how the 10b had looked at him when he told them they could do better. As if nobody had ever told them that before … or as if they never believed it when somebody did.

His work came to a halt entirely when he found something. It was a box, sealed shut with tape, buried underneath the gym like a second bag of money – waiting to be found.

He crawled back out of the tunnel to settle down in the basement and wiped the tin can as clean as possible. Among the dry, caked dirt, letters came to the forefront.

 _Time Capsule 10a, 2009_

He was holding one of the time capsules Ianto had been talking about.

Curious, he pried the lid open with his knife. Inside, he found letters, all of them neatly folded into envelopes. He chuckled, opening some of them and reading through the words the students had written to themselves, of what they wanted to achieve and what they hoped wouldn't happen. Some of the letters were stupid, others idealistic, others again inspirational.

He froze when he found an envelope with the words _Ianto Jones_ written on its front. He opened it quickly and found a picture in it of a much younger Ianto, looking at him with a shy smile. Jack smiled back and unfolded the letter.

 _Hello!_

 _I doubt that this will work out or that anyone could be as organised as to dig out these letters in twenty years. In general, I also don't comfortable with strangers reading this._

 _But I wish I wasn't so scared of telling everyone that I'm gay. I would also like to get a love letter with little check boxes saying 'yes', 'no' and 'maybe'. It's silly, I know, but I haven't received one yet and it seems kind of important._

 _And I want to become a teacher because that's the only job that I can imagine myself doing._

 _Goodbye,_

 _Ianto Jones_

Jack laughed. At the bottom of the page, he found another short note that made his stomach feel heavy.

 _P.S. I want to get married (if gay people will ever be allowed to do that) to a man who is smart and always honest._

Jack didn't know why that made him sad.

xxx

Jack didn't feel bad about his life choices. He sometimes thought that, yes, he could have done better, but it was too late to go back and wish he'd done different. He wasn't one to wallow in self-pity. He'd been in prison, had done his time, accepted the stamp society had put on him and that was that. He deserved the money to start a new life.

Wherever it would lead him.

That was how he'd lived his life until now and it was too late to change it.

He'd spent his childhood after his mother had abandoned him to go kill herself being pushed from one foster family to the other and never fitting in. His first break-in had been a dare of some friends, then it became a matter of getting money for cigarettes and alcohol. He'd met Gwen at the _Exotic_ and got to know John through her and with him, he felt like somebody understood him for the first time in his life. Even though they'd never made an official relationship out of their casual affair, John was the only person Jack had ever confided in. Even more so than in Gwen. They got along. They were similar.

John was like him. Ianto wasn't.

That was why Jack didn't understand the reason for Ianto's letter hurting him so much. Ianto would probably scoff at the very idea of being with someone like Jack. He already did hate the very thought, after all. Physical attraction aside, Ianto wasn't one for casual. That was easy to see and no matter how attractive he thought Jack was, he would never make a move on him simply because he couldn't bear being close to Jack's personality. The only opinion they shared was that the 10b could be turned around.

Despite all his grousing, Jack could admit to that by now. Maybe it was pathetic, but trying to give the 10b a second chance felt like making up for his own mistakes. He saw so many facets of himself or John in them … with the difference that it wasn't too late for the kids yet. If somebody would have cared about him back then, he would have had quite a different life today. He wouldn't have gone to prison, wouldn't be known by the police. His life would probably not be great, but at least it would be honest. The 10b could still have that.

Jack stared at Ianto's letter, the words of his own school principal coming back to him. He could still remember how he'd felt, sitting in that chair in her office, all of eleven years old and already a lost cause in her eyes. In everyone's eyes.

" _Everyone knows that you're the one who took the money, Jack. There's no use in denying it. You will never become anything more than a little thief, and the Carltons surely won't be the last foster family that wants to get rid of you."_

Jack sighed and shook his head. It was what it was. He'd had a plan from the start and he should just keep to it: Get the money and get out.

That didn't mean that he couldn't try and make a difference for the kids while he worked.

Even if it was just to see Ianto smile.


	9. Chapter 9

**9.**

Jack didn't know when exactly alcohol had been consumed, but his head sure as hell remembered that it had been … and in masses. He groaned and buried himself underneath the thin duvet Ianto had given him for his bed in the attic. The sun shining through the window was torture for his eyes, and the knock on the door that had woken him seemed too loud in his ears. "What?!"

"School," Ianto answered from outside. "Come on."

"I'm not going. I'm sick," Jack replied, praying that Ianto would leave it at that.

The door opened.

"Oh fuck, Jesus …," Jack groaned.

Ianto gagged. "Oh my … it smells like a distillery in here. Are you drunk?" He hurried over to the window and opened it wide. "I thought barkeepers weren't supposed to drink on the job."

Jack pulled the duvet over his head. "Go away."

"You've got school in one hour," Ianto said. Jack heard him pause and wait, then his muttered, "I can't believe this." Another pause, and then Ianto pulled the duvet away from Jack's head, staring down at him with his arms crossed and a frown marring his boyish face. "How much did you have?"

Jack winced. "None of your business."

"It _is_ my business if I have to be worried about you dying from alcohol poisoning while I'm at work."

Jack closed his eyes, trying to ignore him.

Ianto sighed deeply and seemed to soften. He sat on the edge of the bed and put a tentative hand on Jack's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Piss off," Jack snapped, shrugging the hand off. "You're just scared they'll learn the truth and that you'll get the 10b back, so don't pretend to be worried about me."

"Are you stupid?" Ianto asked in disbelief. "Are you accusing me of not caring about you? Seriously, I'm sorry that you're having a hard time ..."

"I'm not a teacher!" Jack moaned.

"... but that's no reason to doubt yourself. The 10b isn't easy, but you chose this job. So go and do it. Besides, I do like you." When Jack blinked up at Ianto in surprise at the words, he found him blushing and biting his lip. "That's the reason I'm worried about you," he added and got up. "Stay home today. Think about everything. You have the potential to be a really great teacher if you just apply yourself."

Jack stared at him, shocked at the sincere words.

Ianto stared back for a moment before ducking his head. "Well … do me a favour and try to look in on Mica, yeah? She doesn't feel well today, either, and is staying home."

With that, he nodded at Jack and left. Jack was still dumbstruck about Ianto's words. He repeated them in his head over and again, wondering if there could be a grain of truth in them. Finally, though, sleep claimed him again.

xxx

By the time Jack woke up again, it was eleven and his head didn't feel better.

He shuffled into the kitchen to take some aspirin and then into the loo, and was on his way back to bed when he remembered vaguely that he was supposed to check on Mica. Through the slightly ajar door to her room, he could hear her talking. She didn't sound very sick. He pushed open the door to surprise her … and froze.

Mica was sitting at her desk in a room that couldn't have been more cliché for a girl her age, her laptop open in front of her and her friend Emma looking at her through the web-cam.

And both of them had plastic bags over their heads and pressed to their faces.

"I think that's a stupid method," Emma was just saying. "I'd take pills and we should … Mica, somebody's behind you!"

Mica whirled around, almost toppling out of her chair.

Jack kept staring at her. "What the hell?"

Mica ripped the bag off her head. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Why do you have a plastic bag over your head?"

Mica swallowed. "We're doing profile pics for Facebook," she said and smiled awkwardly.

Emma nodded, also taking off the bag.

Jack frowned. "Don't fuck with me!" He looked at Emma. "Were you trying to _kill_ yourselves?"

Emma's eyes filled with tears, then she sobbed. "Please don't tell my parents, Mr. Harkness. Please."

Mica got up, nervously fiddling with the bag and her hair. "We just … wanted to know what it's like."

"I didn't want to do this. You talked me into it," Emma said.

Mica turned to the laptop, enraged. "You said yourself that you think you're ugly!"

"Yes, but you started that suicide shit! Just because you're in love with Bernie!"

Mica slapped the laptop shut and threw herself on her bed, burying her face in her pillow.

Jack sighed deeply and rolled his eyes. He wasn't in the mood for this. "Are you mad? Your uncle would have ripped my balls off if he'd come home to find you dead!" Mica sobbed loudly and curled up even further. Jack took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "Right," he said, "your family's dead and Bernie won't shag you, but that's no reason to kill yourself."

"I've got nobody!"

"You've got your uncle, stuck up as he is!"

Mica sniffled and peered at Jack through strands of her dark hair. "But I want Bernie. And he wants me, which he would have realised when I wouldn't have come to Annie's party tonight and he would have found out I was dead."

"You chicks are fucking complicated," Jack replied. "And don't be an ungrateful little shit, your uncle is doing all he can for you. He even said no to some fancy job in London to be here. And if you want Bernie, then don't run around in these god-awful shirts and baggy jeans as if you're waiting for your sex change. You're not _that_ ugly."

"Yes, I am!" Mica answered and hid in her pillow again.

Jack cursed and decided that he'd reached the end of his rope. "Okay, I'm getting dressed and then we're going out."

"No!"

"Not interested! Go wash your face. I certainly won't be stopped by some PC who thinks I'm abducting you!"

xxx

"Where are we going?" Mica asked for the fourth time when Jack stopped the car in front of the _Exotic_. She looked around fearfully, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Getting you the kind of advice your uncle can't give you," Jack answered and got out of the car. The sun was drilling into his eyes and not even the sunglasses seemed to be able to deter it. He quickly made for the entrance to the _Exotic_ , which was still closed at this hour. The doors were open, though. The days were used to clean up from the previous night and many of the girls hung around the bar even at this hour, having nowhere else to go.

Mica followed him inside hesitantly, looking around warily.

"Come on," Jack said waving her onwards. "Gwen!" he called, seeing her practice at one of the poles. The music was only turned on very low and all the lights were on, taking away everything that could be called exotic about the bar.

Gwen waved at him and jumped off the stage to approach, giving Jack a kiss on the lips in greeting. "What's up, baby? Who is the kid?"

"I know her from school. Could you make something out of her? There's a party on tonight and she wants to impress someone."

Gwen looked Mica up and down, tugging her dark hair into a casual knot. "I always like a challenge." She turned towards the bar. "Sheila, get me my make-up kit!" She put one finger under Mica's chin and lifted her head a bit, then brushed through her hair, lifting it away from her face. "Cheekbones I would die for." Sheila set a big silver suitcase on the table next to them.

Mica looked at Jack, slightly alarmed.

"Don't worry," Jack said. "She's a prostitute, she knows what men like."

Gwen nodded and smiled at Mica. "Want a drink? Or some cocaine?"

Mica shook her head, startled.

xxx

"And I really look okay?" Mica asked.

Jack switched on the light inside the car, looking her up and down pointedly. "You're a bit young for me but if I were Bernie, I'd say you look shaggable."

Mica smiled shyly. Gwen had given her a tight red dress that complimented her pale skin perfectly, and a pair of red high heels. Her dark hair was done up casually, some strands falling into her face. Gwen's make-up was flawless, accentuating Mica's high cheekbones and big, blue eyes.

Jack smirked. "Don't tell your uncle I said that." He looked at the block of flats they'd parked in front of. Some youths were sitting on the stairs leading inside, the door was wide open, and loud music poured through the windows. It was dark now and some of the street lights were broken or flickering, giving the area a run-down look that was only heightened by trash on the street and graffiti on the walls.

"I didn't mean what I said," Mica admitted and Jack looked at her questioningly. "About Uncle Ianto." She shrugged. "I know he's trying but he's sad, too, about … my family. I just … didn't want to heap more problems on him."

"Your uncle's all right," Jack replied. "Bit of a pansy but all right." He looked back towards the party. "Okay, you go in there, you play it cool and – most importantly – you ignore Bernie."

Mica's eyes widened. "Ignore him?"

"Yes, completely. He _will_ approach you."

Mica smiled. "Okay."

"And I'll pick you up at eleven. You better be standing out waiting on time."

She opened the car door and paused.

"What is it?" Jack asked.

Mica looked at him, then she leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Mr. Harkness."

Jack waved her off and Mica left. He felt his cheeks burn and scoffed at himself, shifting in the seat to get ready to drive on. He saw Bernie stare after Mica as she went inside and couldn't help but grin. Then he replayed their conversation in his head and snorted. "I'll pick you up at eleven? Be on time?" he echoed his own words. "I'm such a dork."

xxx

Ianto's bag hit the kitchen table with enough force to rattle the plates Jack had set out for a late dinner. Ianto's eyebrows drew together and his eyes got a murderous look. "She is _where_?"

"A party," Jack answered, leaning against the fridge.

Ianto got out his mobile. "No, absolutely not. She was off sick today."

"Not really sick."

"Why would you let her go to a party!?" Ianto asked angrily.

Jack snagged the phone from his hand. "She wanted to go."

"She lied to me about being sick."

"The last thing she needs right now is you yelling at her."

"You had no right to make this decision on my behalf, Jack!" Ianto said angrily.

"God, calm down. I'll pick her up at eleven."

"That is not the point! She is not your daughter or your niece. She isn't _anything_ for you!"

"And yet I'm the one that had to stop her from killing herself!"

Ianto stared at him. "What?"

"She's unhappy because her parents are gone and she's into Bernie. She thinks he doesn't return her feelings and she can't talk to you about it."

Ianto sank back against the table, his shaky hands grabbing the edge. "I'm always here for her."

Jack sighed and softened his voice. "She knows that, but she's becoming an adult and doesn't want to burden you any further."

Ianto put his face in his hands. "Oh, God." Jack was a bit startled to see tears in Ianto's eyes when he looked up again. "How did I ever think I could do this?"

"Come on," Jack said. "You're doing fine."

"She's suicidal!"

"She's a teenager, they all are!" Jack grabbed Ianto's shoulders and got him to sit in one of the chairs, taking a seat opposite him. He ran his hands through his hair tiredly. "God! I have a hangover, I'm really not in the mood to do family therapy today." Ianto wiped his eyes. He suddenly looked much younger, less enthusiastic, just tired and lost. Jack's heart seemed to miss a beat. The wave of sympathy he felt was surprising for him, but he was too exhausted to fight it. He reached over the table and took one of Ianto's hands. "She's okay. That suicide thing … I don't think she was really going to go through with it."

Ianto gripped his hand tightly, nodding. "Yeah. Okay."

Jack squeezed his fingers. "You're doing fine. And youth welfare services will see that when they come to check on you."

Ianto looked at him. "Thank you, Jack."

Jack hesitated when the words formed, but he let them be heard. "You're welcome."


	10. Chapter 10

**10.**

The atmosphere between Ianto and Mica relaxed after that night. Jack knew that Ianto and her were having an intense talk after the party when he left to take care of his tunnel. When they had breakfast the next morning, everything seemed calmer. Jack himself felt happier as well, promising Mica that he would ask Gwen whether the two of them could go shopping together on the weekend. He received a slightly scandalized look from Ianto for that, but nothing more was said.

Owen remained oblivious, bitching about the woman he'd pulled the night before while walking to the teachers' lounge with Jack. "You would think we're already married. Seriously, we went out once and she thinks I should move in."

"Get out while you can," Jack said, opening the door.

As if she'd waited just for him, Tosh was standing at the door, pushing a heap of paper into his hands before he got the chance to resist. "Ah, Jack!" Tosh said, smiling widely. "This is a test Suzie had the 10b do before she jumped. As expected, they are in an intellectual vacuum. Please see to it that they understand they will fail their GCSEs."

Jack sighed, leafing through the tests … and an idea that had been jumping around his head for the last few days suddenly came back to the forefront of his mind. "Tosh," he said, "where can I get forms for one of those trips?"

"Trips?" she asked with a frown.

"Yeah, where you go with the kids to learn something."

Tosh stared at him. "With the 10b? Where would you go?"

Jack smiled. "Leave that to me."

xxx

Owen started to laugh. "You did _what_?"

Jack grinned at him. "Well, they were the ones insisting that school wouldn't get them anywhere and that being a criminal, or a prostitute, or living off state money would be the best kind of income."

Ianto looked at them both over the rim of his cup, sipping his tea quietly while correcting tests at the kitchen table.

Owen handed Jack a beer. "Perfect. I wish I had the courage to do that."

Jack shrugged, leaning back against the kitchen counter. "Not much courage needed. Gwen's parents like me. They were more than ready to tell the children exactly what they can afford off social benefits. It also helped that her mother is a bad housewife, so the flat wasn't exactly presentable. Left an impression." He winked.

"Forget about that," Owen said. "You brought them to a strip club and then you went to prison with them!"

"I've got connections," Jack answered, reminding himself to buy Andy a beer for convincing his boss of Jack's little 'preventive measure'.

"Mate," Owen said, "you've got balls." With that, he left the kitchen, still chuckling.

Jack looked at Ianto, who still hadn't said anything. He sat down opposite him. "You don't approve, I take it." Ianto raised his head to look at him. The bright light of the kitchen lamp made his eyes seem even bluer. Jack felt a tug in his belly, the curl of attraction undeniable, but he stamped it down resolutely.

Ianto tilted his head. "How did you get that idea?"

"You're quiet."

Ianto set his pen down and leaned back in his chair to cross his arms. "I'm trying to figure you out."

"To figure me out?"

Ianto shrugged. "For someone who fakes a degree to get a job and who is friends with prostitutes at strip clubs, you seem awfully invested in the future of some problematic children."

Jack cleared his throat. "I've been where they are, but I had nobody showing me the right way."

"You still made it to university."

Now, Jack remembered his lie from the beginning. He shrugged. "And I also said that I had problems while I was there."

Ianto smiled. "I have to say that you're a horrible teacher. But you reach them. They actually look up to you. I saw you coming back from the trip and I think it really left an impression on them. You might just be the best thing that's ever happened to them."

Jack swallowed, biting down a pleased grin. "But?"

"No 'but'," Ianto said, blushing. "That's all."

Jack stared at him. "A compliment from you is worth something."

Ianto bit his lip. "Well, I started it with the fact that you're a horrible teacher."

Jack laughed.

"I'm a bit jealous, I guess," Ianto added. "At the way they look at you. I always imagined myself being that kind of person to students."

Jack nodded. "They can't identify with you. Middle-class boy with top grades who could be anything he wanted."

Ianto made a thoughtful noise. "Who are you then?"

Before Jack could stop himself, he said, "Lower-class foster kid who was good for nothing in his mother's eyes after he killed his brother."

Ianto stared at him.

Jack felt like an idiot, having disclosed more than he'd ever intended to, but there was no way back now. "It was an accident but … well, it was me who dared him to follow me over the train tracks, so ..." He shook his head.

"I'm so sorry, Jack," Ianto said.

"Well," Jack said, clearing his throat. "It was a long time ago." He got up. "It doesn't matter anymore. I have to get to the club. See you tomorrow." He didn't give Ianto a chance to answer.

xxx

"So, Bernie," Jack said loudly, hopping to sit on his desk at the front of the classroom, "what's the problem at hand?"

Bernie rolled his eyes, seeming reluctant to answer. However, he finally said, "They fall in love."

Jack nodded. "Why is that a problem?"

"They just met," Bernie said. "It's unrealistic."

Annie shot a glare at him. "It's not. You can fall in love at first sight."

"Give me one example," Bernie replied.

"Bella and Edward."

"Who the fuck is that?!"

" _Twilight_ , you idiot!" Annie answered.

Jack raised a hand. "No, we're not talking about other books here."

"Books?" Annie asked with a frown. "Haven't read the books, just watched the movie."

Jonah raised a hand. "Is there a movie for this Shakespeare shit? 'Cause I didn't understand a word of it."

Carys rolled her eyes. "There's two families, there's a a party and then a chick and a boy fall in love." She turned around to Jack. "But that's a problem because their families are at war."

Jack nodded. "That's correct." He pretended not to see Carys's face lighting up at the praise.

Annie frowned. "Seriously? Did Shakespeare copy this from _Westside Story_?"

"You know _Westside Story_?" Jack asked.

Annie shrugged, seeming embarrassed about having admitted to it.

Carys giggled. "She _loves_ it. Her uncle took her once."

Jack looked at Annie. "In London?"

Annie nodded, but didn't raise her head from the book. "I'm not going again, though."

Bernie scoffed. "I still don't believe it. That's not love, Romeo just wants to get into her pants."

xxx

Jack was impressed with how well the class had actually went. There had been quite a good participation – though reluctant – and it seemed as if Ianto had been right. The students did respect Jack and he could use that.

When the bell rang and everyone quickly gathered up their things to rush for the door, Jack said, "Annie, wait a moment."

She exchanged a look with Carys, who just shrugged and left, a pack of cigarettes already in her hand. Annie hung back, though reluctantly.

Jack leaned back against his desk and waited until everyone had cleared out. "You said you're not going to see a show again, but Carys said you loved it. Why's that then?"

Annie bit her lip and clutched her backpack to her chest. "My father doesn't want me to visit Uncle Larry."

"Why?"

"He's a poof."

"I'm bisexual," Jack replied.

Her eyes widened and she brushed a strand of blond hair behind her ear nervously. "Well, you know … he's a real one."

Jack frowned. "A real one?"

"All girly," Annie whispered.

"So?"

Annie avoided his eyes and shrugged. "My father doesn't want me hanging out with him."

Jack crossed his arms. "Go tell your father that he's welcome to have a chat with me."

Annie shook her head. "I'd rather not tell him."

"Why?"

She looked at him. "'Cause I like hanging out with you."


	11. Chapter 11

**11.**

"Hey," Ianto said, knocking on Jack's door softly.

Jack raised his eyes from the laptop screen, glad for the diversion. Shakespeare was doing his head in.

Ianto smiled tentatively. "Can I come in?"

Jack sat up on the bed and put the laptop and _Romeo & Juliet_ aside. "Sure." He scratched a hand through his hair, feeling like he'd done nothing but study for the last decade … which was probably true.

Ianto sat on the edge of the bed. "I have a problem."

"You have several problems," Jack replied with a teasing grin.

Ianto pulled a face. "Shut up."

"What problem are we talking about?"

"My demonstration lesson," Ianto answered. "You know, to become a teacher … I learned today that I will do it with the 10b the day after tomorrow."

Jack frowned. "Why?"

"The 10a is on a trip on that day and I have to do one group of children, which will be the Year 7, and teenagers, which has to be the 10b."

Jack sighed. "Are we getting to your point now?"

Ianto folded his hands and took a deep breath. "I need your help."

"Really?" Jack asked, leaning back against the headboard. He grinned widely. "You need my help?"

"Stuff it," Ianto said. He was blushing.

Jack chuckled. "With what?"

Ianto looked at him earnestly. "They need to accept me."

"I can't tell them to just be good and respect you. That's not how it works."

Ianto pulled an annoyed face. "How does it work?"

"You need to earn their respect."

"Doing what?"

Jack rolled his eyes.

"Please," Ianto said. "I need to pass. I'll do … anything."

"Anything?"

Ianto nodded.

"Fine," Jack said, opening his belt. "Let's get to it."

Ianto was staring at him in disbelief.

"Well?" Jack asked. He didn't expect anything to happen, of course, but backing Ianto into a corner had shown him unexpected, interesting facets to his personality before. He was curious as to what he would find now. So, Jack just looked at him, waiting.

He could see Ianto was thinking and thinking hard. It was almost comical, the way he seemed to sway between affronted and reluctantly giving in. He'd blanched, his eyes wide.

Jack laughed and did his belt up again. "No worries, just teasing."

"It's not funny," Ianto answered angrily, getting up from the bed. "People could take you seriously." He turned back around to Jack, wiping a hand down his face, and Jack could see that he was shaking.

He swallowed, realising that he might have gone a bit too far. "Hey, I was just kidding."

"How am I supposed to know that?" Ianto snapped.

"All right, I'm sorry. I didn't know you'd be that uptight."

Ianto glared at him. "It's got nothing to do with being uptight!"

"What has it got to do with?!" Jack asked, getting annoyed himself.

"Common sense! You can't go walking around coercing people into sexual favours in return for giving them something, not even to make a joke. It's not funny."

Jack got up from the bed and Ianto took a step back, crossing his arms defensively and pulling his shoulders up. Jack had seen that reaction way too often to not know what it meant. There had been a time when he'd been looking for it, seeing it as what it was – the point when his victim gave in and he'd won.

It hurt to see it on Ianto. And it told him more than Ianto was probably hoping to show.

"What was his name?" he asked, sitting on the bed to give Ianto the advantage in height.

Ianto didn't meet his eyes. "It doesn't matter. He's gone."

"Your last boyfriend, yeah?" Jack asked, remembering that Owen had warned him off Ianto because of a bad experience recently.

Ianto winced. "Not really my boyfriend, as it turns out."

"You'll give me anything to help you? Give me the story."

Ianto shook his head. "Why would you be interested?"

"Because you're jumpy as hell."

Ianto looked at him. Jack hated that look, Ianto's eyes staring as if he was a puzzle to be solved. "Not much to tell," he finally said. "I was just awkward and lonely and he was popular and afraid of coming out of the closet. It thought he was actually interested until I found out he had a girlfriend on the side. He … kept coming to me even after it I told him it was over. He got me in touch with people his family knew … boarding schools and all that." He shrugged. "He got angry when I refused … I had a pathetic crush on him. I rarely said no."

Jack felt the kind of fury he'd only felt one time before now. One of Gwen's customers had struck her. Jack had made sure he wasn't bragging to his friends about it for long. "You didn't have friends?"

Ianto shook his head. "I focused on studying."

Jack cleared his throat, forcing the tension out of his muscles. "He was a wanker."

Ianto smiled sadly. "What does that make me?"

Jack shrugged. "People do strange things to make their way sometimes."

Ianto's lips showed a faint smile. "Like faking degrees?"

Jack chuckled. "Like that."

Ianto stepped closer, his arms still crossed. "Thanks."

"What for?" Jack asked.

"For caring," Ianto answered.

"I ..." Jack paused, hesitated for a moment. Finally, he said, "I do."

Ianto looked at him, his eyes searching again.

Jack wanted to kiss him. He cleared his throat. "So, you won't complain, no matter what I'm asking you to do to get the 10b's respect?" he asked.

Ianto shook his head. "Not one word."

Jack grinned. "Oh, this is going to be fun."

xxx

Ianto looked around, almost tripping over a train track. This corner of the railway control centre was quiet and abandoned at this time of night, Jack had assured him, but that didn't stop him from being nervous. They'd squeezed their way through a hole in the chain-link fence and were sneaking up to the trains that stood here during the night, all the while trying to evade the security personnel and the few functioning, scattered lamps on the grounds.

All this felt rather illegal.

He grabbed Jack's arm. "What are we doing here?"

Jack smiled at him and switched on his torch to shine straight at a train standing on the tracks, adjusting the backpack he was carrying over one shoulder. "Getting you some street credit."

"Jack, it's the middle of the night."

"It's ten o'clock."

"It's dark."

"You said you would do anything."

Ianto bit his lip and cursed himself for ever thinking asking Jack for advice would be a good idea.

Jack stopped in front of the train and turned around to the 10b who had followed them, excitedly chatting away. "All right," Jack said loudly, gaining their attention. "I want to do an art project with you about _Romeo & Juliet_. Splashing colour on paper is boring, though, so I asked Mr. Jones what kind of art project we could do and he suggested a whole train."

Ianto frowned quizzically. The students on the other hand stared at him in surprise, some of them cheering quietly and beaming in excitement. Ianto leaned towards Jack. "What is a whole train?"

Jack got one of the graffiti cans they'd bought this afternoon out of his backpack. "We'll spray the whole train."

"The _whole_ train?" Ianto asked. "That sounds a bit illegal."

"Shut up," Jack said. "You wanted their respect."

"You're overdoing it," Ianto hissed. "The train looks new."

"That's why it's perfect," Jack hissed back and then turned back to the students. "Take the scarves I gave you and wrap them around your mouth and nose." He paused when two shadows circled around the train and stopped in surprise upon seeing them.

Ianto thought it was the police at first, then he saw that they were wearing ski masks and backpacks. Other sprayers. He stepped forward. "Sorry, but we're having a school project here."

"Huh?" one of the sprayers asked.

"This is _our_ train," Ianto answered. "So go and pick one of the others because I really don't have the time to discuss this. I'm not doing this for fun."

The men stared at him. Then one of them shrugged and turned to go, waving for the other to follow.

Bernie started to laugh. "Wow, Mr. Jones, are you doing this more often?"

"I do this all the time," Ianto lied. Jack snorted. Ianto threw him a scathing look but turned back to the 10b. "Put on the scarves now. The paint is poisonous. And remember, our theme is _Romeo & Juliet_. Go for it."

The students didn't wait any longer, gathering around Jack's backpack to pick out cans.

Jack turned to Ianto. He was grinning widely when he leaned closer to murmur, "You're adorable."

Ianto tried to ignore the shiver running down his spine at Jack's breath brushing his cheek, the scent of his aftershave and shampoo. He was dangerously close to kissing him ... and reminded himself that 'dangerous' was a word he could associate too much with Jack, despite the unexpected kindness he sometimes showed. He shouldn't kiss him. So he cleared his throat and leaned back a bit. "You did _not_ just say that. You did _not_ just use the word 'adorable'."

"It's true, though," Jack said, smiling at him as if he knew what kind of effect he had on Ianto.

Ianto felt heat pool in his cheeks and belly and quickly cleared his throat. "So," he said, taking a spray can, "how do I do this?"

"Here," Jack said, leading him towards the end of the wagon and standing beside him. "Just hold it and spray." He used his own spray can to tag the train with the name _Romeo_ , the letters flowing artfully like antique calligraphy. Ianto added the name _Juliet_ underneath, his letters looking a bit misshaped, but better than he'd expected. Jack smiled. "Not bad."

"Oi, Mr. Jones!" Jonah called and he looked around. "I'm done."

"Already?" Ianto asked, tearing himself away from Jack and coming to stand beside Jonah. He looked at the picture. "Huh ..."

"Cool, right?" Jonah asked. Bernie stepped back to look critically at the yellow words Jonah had painted on the train.

FUK YU, SHAKESPIER!

"Cool, mate," he said.

Ianto grimaced. "Well, this exercise isn't about spelling, fortunately, but the sentiment seems a bit … extreme."

"Hey!" someone yelled and they turned to see two mean with torches running towards them.

"Shit, security," Jack said. "Run! Everyone, run!" He grabbed Ianto's hand and pulled him along.

Jack had switched off his torch and Ianto had difficulties navigating the tracks in the weak lights emitted by the lamps without stumbling. He almost fell two or three times but Jack's hand just pulled him along. The night air was cold in Ianto's lungs and the shouts of the guards got closer. Part of him was glad they were following him and Jack and not the kids. Another part was panicking and already seeing himself trying to explain to the police how he'd wanted the 10b's respect.

Somehow, he doubted they would understand.

Jack almost twisted his arm when he stopped suddenly and pushed Ianto into the shadows of a building, plastering himself against him. The sudden stop made Ianto slightly dizzy, his breath coming in uneven gasps. Jack clamped a hand over his mouth and hid his face against Ianto's shoulder to silence his own breaths.

The security guards ran past without even glancing at them.

Jack pulled his hand away and Ianto looked at him. He realised for the first time that they were almost the same height, him being just slightly shorter than Jack. He also noticed that his hands had grabbed Jack's jacket. He didn't want to let go, really. So he didn't. "This isn't the first time you run from the police, is it?"

Jack stared at him and gave a crooked grin. "Took a CD one time." He looked back over his shoulder to where the guards had run. "Let's stay for a sec. I'm sure they'll cut back."

Ianto nodded and leaned back against the wall. He could barely make out Jack's expression, hidden in the shadows as they were. Like this, Jack's scent seemed stronger somehow, headier. Ianto tilted his head a bit, breathing in deeply. "What aftershave are you using? It smells really good."

Jack looked at him for a long moment, his eyes almost black, and stepped even closer, his leg going between Ianto's. The warmth of his body enveloped Ianto, banishing the cold night air. "I'm not wearing any."

"You smell like that naturally?" Ianto asked. His fingers felt numb, clutching Jack's jacket, but the rest of him felt warm. His breath quickened again. He tilted his head up and tugged, giving Jack permission.

Jack kissed him.

Ianto opened his mouth immediately, letting Jack's tongue explore, and wrapped his arms around Jack's neck, pressing closer, canting his hips up. He couldn't help the soft whimper that escaped him when his half-hard cock came into contact with Jack's, even through several layers of clothing. It had been too long, and somehow Jack knew exactly how to kiss him. He seemed to know instinctively that Ianto would shiver when he rucked up his jumper and caressed the heated skin of Ianto's back, that Ianto would try to wrap himself around Jack when he pressed him back against the hard wall. Jack's hand went between them, his palm dragging over Ianto's groin once – not teasingly but roughly.

"Please," Ianto whispered.

They were interrupted by the security walking by again, slower this time and clearly frustrated. Their bodies went still, their breaths caught, staring at one another in the dim light. Jack was still looking at him when the guards were long gone. Ianto leaned up to kiss him again – ready to let himself be taken up against a wall in the middle of the night in some railway control centre, and he'd never done something this daring before … but Jack stepped back. "We should get home," he said and walked away.

Stunned, Ianto didn't react. When he realised what had happened – that Jack had changed his mind and abandoned him for whatever reason – he sank back against the wall and wiped his face with his hands. He knew he should probably be glad because this had been a very bad idea. All he felt, though, was disappointment and shame.

Steps to his right startled him and he turned to look at Carys and Bernie who were staring at him. Bernie made an impressed face. "Wow, Mr. Jones, you really are a poof." Ianto glared and Bernie raised his hands. "Nothing wrong with that, mate. You're cool."

Carys grinned with giddy excitement. "You are _so_ in there!"

Ianto doubted that was true.


	12. Chapter 12

**12.**

"Why is the nurse such an important role?" Ianto asked, leaning back against the desk. The 10b was looking at him attentively, some hands going up to answer the question.

Ianto still couldn't quite believe the effect their nightly activities had had on the students' behaviour towards him. Until now, they'd either encountered him without any respect or had been plain ignoring him. In Jack's presence that had changed a bit, but Ianto put that down to the students respecting Jack, not him.

Today, though, with Tosh sitting at the back of the room and keeping a careful eye on him, they weren't letting him down.

Ianto pointed at Jonah, who straightened in his chair. "She's a nurse, yeah?" Jonah said. "And she's been raising Juliet. And now she's playing messenger between her and Romeo because she loves Juliet."

"Yes, but what does that _mean_?" Ianto asked.

Jonah frowned and seemed to think about that. "That she raised Juliet and and now she's raising their love?"

Annie shook her head and turned around to him. "She's _nurturing_ it like she nurtured Juliet when she was still a baby. She's nurturing the love between them." She looked at Ianto. "Right, Mr. Jones?"

He smiled with a nod. "That's correct."

xxx

"How did it go?" Jack asked, leaning in the door to the classroom.

Ianto looked at him with a smile, though he remained guarded. They hadn't talked since the kiss, just nodded at each other in the kitchen this morning. Ianto was still confused about why Jack had pulled away so suddenly, but he wasn't even sure whether he should mention it. Letting Jack take the lead was probably the best course of action, he decided, and answered, "Good. Really good. They were motivated." He closed his bag and hefted it onto his shoulder. "Jack, what you taught them about _Romeo & Juliet_ is … astounding."

"You think so?" Jack asked, coming closer.

Ianto nodded.

Jack gave a shrug, though Ianto was almost sure he could see a faint flush on his cheeks. "I guess I know how it is to want something you can't have." His voice was low, intimate.

Ianto ducked his head before he looked into Jack's eyes and replied, "Nobody said you couldn't."

Jack gave a bitter smile. "Well ..."

" _You_ kissed _me._ "

Jack squared his shoulders. "And I'm as good as gone. I'm a substitute teacher and I've got a life going on away from here, let's not start something we can't go through with. Especially since it wouldn't work out anyway."

Ianto frowned. "You make it sound so impossible."

"It is, in a way," Jack replied. "Impossible." He chuckled, though it didn't sound as unconcerned as he probably wanted it to. "Come on, it was one kiss in the heat of the moment. You don't honestly think I wouldn't have gone through with anything if you were that irresistible."

Ianto stared at him, something heavy settling in his stomach. "Right."

"We're too different," Jack added. "You get that, don't you?"

"I get that," Ianto said and forced a smile. "Sure."

Jack paused, hesitated. Maybe he could read the devastation in Ianto's eyes or maybe he would change his mind … Jack reached out a hand but before he could make contact or say anything, the voice of a stranger interrupted them.

"Well, well, well … look at that." They turned towards the door. Ianto had never seen the dark-blond man who was standing there before … and he didn't think he wanted to meet him. He was wearing a red leather jacket zipped up and tight black jeans tucked into boots. His features were roguish and hard, but his smile put a spark in his blue eyes that made him more approachable.

"John," Jack said and took a step to the side to stand in front of Ianto. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see where you work," John answered with a grin and sauntered into the room, looking around. "A bit miserable, not really your style ..." He looked at Ianto. "But I see where you get your kicks." His eyes strayed to Jack, but he was talking to Ianto when he said, "Would you mind leaving us for a few minutes, Eye Candy? Jack and I have got business to discuss."

"Business?" Ianto asked, not liking the way John was dismissing him. "What kind of business?"

"Not yours."

Ianto looked at Jack but he wouldn't meet his eyes, staring at John with an unreadable expression instead. Ianto grabbed his books. "Well, I guess I'll see you later then."

"Ianto." Jack grabbed his arm and stepped closer. "You understand about … about the kiss, yeah?"

"I think you've made your point," Ianto answered and left.

He heard John chuckle. "Shags at work are always such a messy business."

The door closed.

xxx

John leaned against the closed door, crossing his arms. "I want part of the money, Jack. Gwen says you're working on getting it out. I even wanted to help you, given that it's already been over a week since you started digging, but now I'm beginning to think that the reason for your dawdling is that you're probably getting a bit too distracted here."

Jack grit his teeth. "I'm working on it. Not that it's any of your business. What Gwen buried was my share."

"Well, I lost mine and I need 4000 to buy a van for the money transport thing. You were always there when I needed you, Jack, don't start getting strange ideas now."

Jack shook his head. "You're going to go through with the job?"

"Yes. Without you, if I have to. But I need the money." He stared at Jack pleadingly. "I know you've got way more than 4000 buried away."

"It's not my fault you gambled it away," Jack replied.

The police had caught up to him much sooner than to John back then. For two weeks, John had used the money in about every casino in Wales he could find. The police catching him had put and end to it just when his money had run out, anyway.

Jack added. "I've got plans for the money, I can't give you anything."

John stepped closer, his eyebrows pulling together into an expression Jack knew all too well. John was prone to sudden mood swings, and just now he'd swung toward furious. "Right, you listen to me. I was there for you when you had nothing. When you came over from London, I took you in. I taught you most of the advanced stuff you know. I won't force you to to the job with me, but I need the money. Otherwise, I'll tell Eye Candy all about you and who you really are. I don't think he'd like to spread his legs for you then, proper boy that he is."

Jack glared at him. "Not that it's any of your business, but we didn't shag and it won't happen, so stop talking that way about him!"

John stared at him, taken aback for a moment, then he laughed. "Fuck me, Jack. You're in love."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Well, if it's not true, let's go to a hotel and shag like we used to."

Jack swallowed.

John chuckled. "There was a time when you wouldn't have hesitated."

Jack turned away, looking out onto the school yard and found Ianto and Owen walking there together, talking. He guessed he _did_ owe John and even without the 4000, he would still be able to leave and start anew somewhere else.

Without John.

He turned back around, his hands on his hips. "Fine, when do you need the money?"

John smiled. "How fast can you get to it?"

Jack ducked his head, thinking. "I can make it tonight if I hurry."

"Well, hurry then." He made for the door, but paused and looked back at Jack. "My offer still stands by the way. You can join in on the job any time."

Jack shook his head. "I can't, they need me." When John frowned quizzically, he added, "The kids. We're almost through with _Romeo & Juliet_ and I want to do a test on that. Besides, GCSEs are coming up."

John snorted. " _Romeo & Juliet_? Fuck, Jack, that's not your world! You never gave a toss about bleeding Lord Byron before-"

"Shakespeare."

"Whatever. Do you actually think you can teach them something? You haven't even finished school and you didn't manage to graduate from prison school either. It's better if you're not around. Let them have a proper teacher." He clapped Jack's shoulder. "It's all well and good, being a good guy for once, appearing like a law-abiding citizen and all that crap, but you know deep down that Eye Candy would never respect you if he knew who you really are. None of them would. They talk like they wouldn't care but they do, or it wouldn't be this hard for ex-prisoners to find a job or for poor people to climb the ladder. We both know that the system already decides in school whether you're worth something or not, and it's certainly not your brains being the most important factor."

Jack sighed, reluctantly seeing John's point. "Still ..."

"Get your act together and find the money and join me doing something you're actually good at. And then we'll fly to California and do all the other things we're good at." He winked at him. "So … what do you say?"

xxx

"Who was he?" Ianto asked, barely glancing up from the tests he was correcting. Jack turned his attention away from the telly for a second, unable to suppress a smile at the way Ianto sat curled up in one corner of the sofa with tests piled on his legs and a pen in his hand. There was music drifting down the stairs from Mica's room, but it was faint, as was the conversation Owen was having on the phone in his room. The lounge was a cosy place, clearly furbished by Ianto's sister, but with touches of Mica, Ianto and Owen's presence everywhere. And now there were some of Jack's things as well. Beside the kitchen, this was the only room shared by all of them and Jack had gotten quite used to coming down here whenever he felt like company. Someone was always there.

He knew who Ianto was asking after and he didn't bother pretending he didn't. "Just a bloke."

"Just a bloke," Ianto echoed, still correcting tests. "A friend?"

"Yeah," Jack said, turning his attention back to the telly.

The pen in Ianto's hand stopped scratching over paper and he turned his head to look at Jack, his face deadly serious. "I don't want you to ever invite him here. I don't like him."

Jack frowned. "You don't even know him." Sure, John was an arse but he could be nice when he put his mind to it. Besides, Ianto's refusal to let John into his house strangely felt like a rejection of Jack's personality.

Ianto scoffed. "He seems shady. Gwen is one thing – she is a lovely person – but I don't want that bloke near Mica."

"Because he did time?"

Ianto's eyes widened. "He was in _prison_? No, now I definitely don't want him here."

"Well," Jack said, getting up and grabbing his jacket off the couch end. "No worries. This is _your_ house after all."

With that he left, not reacting when Ianto called after him. The rain felt good on his face. He zipped the jacket up against the cold wind, tucking his hands into the pockets, and started walking. He didn't know where to go at first but when he stood at the entrance to the school – his hair dripping and his cheeks feeling frozen – he knew that he'd somehow, subconsciously, made the right decision. A little exertion sounded about perfect right now.

He tugged his mobile from his jeans pocket and dialled John's number. "I'm at the school," he said as soon as John picked up. "Come digging."


	13. Chapter 13

**13.**

Half an hour later, Jack was beginning to regret his decision. "I said 'yes' to digging, not to you trying to talk me into that stupid job!"

John turned around to him, the tunnel too tight to sit properly and have this conversation, but Jack couldn't have waited longer with his words even if he'd tried. He wiped his sweaty forehead, his shirt clinging to his body.

John didn't look much better, his face smudged with dirt and sweat dripping into his eyes. "You're serious."

Jack nodded, leaning back against the wall. "They need me. Nobody here understands them and they're us, John, when we still had a chance."

John frowned. "I didn't know you resented our life so much."

"I don't," Jack replied. "I didn't." He closed his eyes. "I guess I just didn't know it could be better."

John swallowed. "Right. I guess we'll finish up here then and … go our separate ways."

Jack recognised the look on John's face, though. An expression intending to mask he was feeling hurt. "We don't have to-"

"Jack!" John snapped, continuing to dig angrily, his shovel clearing dirt away angrily. "You want to be Mr. Do-Good, you can't have me hanging around!"

He paused, his eyes going wide. He dropped the shovel, digging with his hands instead … and now Jack saw what had caused John's reaction.

It was a bag hidden in the dirt.

Jack recognised it, even though the colours were faded and nature had started to do damage to the outside. He pulled it out of the hole with John's help and crawled backwards, leaving the tunnel in an ungraceful tangle of limbs. John joined him only seconds later, when Jack was already opening the zip in the light of the torches they'd brought to illuminate the basement.

Jack laughed in relief when he found the money inside, wrapped additionally in a plastic bag. John laughed as well, before he grabbed Jack's face and planted a kiss on his lips. "Yes!" Just a second later, he seemed to notice what he'd done and stepped away, clearing his throat. "Sorry."

"John-"

"It's all right. Just ..." He motioned at the bag. "If I'd known that was our last robbery together, I would have chosen a different bank. Something more up-scale."

Jack quirked a smile. "More up-scale than Splott?" Before John could answer, movement on the stairs caught Jack's attention. His eyes widened when he recognised the man staring at them in disbelief. "Ianto?"

Ianto turned and ran. John dropped the bag with a curse and followed him.

"John!" Jack called and picked up one of the torches. "John, no!"

xxx

Ianto ran up the stairs from the basement and, hearing rapid steps behind him, turned towards the main entrance to the school. He'd only intended to talk to Jack about what he'd said about John. After Jack had left, he'd realised just how prejudiced he'd sounded about someone that could be a close friend of Jack's. He'd been taught not to let first impressions get the better of him and yet, in John's case, it had happened.

He'd wanted to drive to the _Exotic_ , hoping to find Jack there until his shift at the night club would start, but going past the school, he'd noticed faint light coming through the basement windows. He probably wouldn't have noticed if the lamps illuminating the school yard at all hours weren't broken in that area.

Ianto sometimes cursed his curiosity.

He fumbled with the keys to the door, cursing himself again for locking it behind him, and finally gave up when John charged at him. He managed to run half-way up the stairs, not really knowing where he was going, when John's hand closed around his sleeve. Ianto kicked out and hit John square in the shoulder. John grunted and let go of him. Ianto stumbled up the rest of the steps before he was grabbed and pinned against the wall.

"Got you, Eye Candy," John hissed, knocking Ianto's feet out from under him. Ianto scuffled backwards into a corner and John approached threateningly, his eyes seeming dark in the low lights coming from outside. "It's not nice to eavesdrop."

Ianto pressed his back against the wall behind him. "If you kill me, they'll know who did it."

"Really? And how would that work with me having no ties to this school?" John approached further and Ianto raised his hands over head.

"John!" Jack joined them with a torch, stopping behind John. He looked at Ianto, his face a grimace. "Shit!"

Ianto glared at him, feeling so much anger and betrayal he could barely breathe. "Are you going to watch him kill me now?"

John snorted. "Christ, Eye Candy! Nobody is going to kill you." He put his hands on his hips and glanced at Jack. "Let's put him in the basement and get out of town, first flight to California is ours. We'll be long gone by the time somebody finds him."

Ianto didn't know what he'd expected Jack to do, but he certainly hadn't expected him not saying anything … _actually considering it_. He swallowed and looked at Jack beseechingly, looking for a trace of the man he'd thought he knew. "It's the weekend. Nobody will come here until Monday!" He got to his feet. "That's two days, Jack!"

"You would go to the police," Jack replied softly. He looked sad and tired … but determined.

Threatening and dangerous.

Ianto shook his head. "Oh God. You're a criminal." He closed his eyes. "Did you break out of prison?"

"What?" Jack asked in disbelief. "No, I did my thirteen months."

"Thirteen?!" Ianto asked. "Thirteen months?!"

"Bank robbery. My last raid is buried here."

John cleared his throat pointedly. " _Our_ last raid."

"You gambled yours," Jack replied. "This is my half. I'm only lending you some of it."

Ianto stared at them. "You're insane."

John chuckled while Jack's expression became stricken again – that weird mixture of sadness and hardness that made it difficult for Ianto to guess what he would do. He should have seen this coming, somehow, from the start. After all, Jack had faked his degree. Ianto should have seen … he realised why he hadn't. He'd been blinded. "Was that the reason you pretended to like me? Because I almost caught you and you wanted to distract me?"

"At the beginning, yes," Jack admitted. He stepped closer and Ianto shook his head, walking around the both of them without taking his eyes off them. Jack stopped approaching, raising his hands in a placating gesture. "Ianto, it wasn't a lie at the end."

"As if I can believe that. You still kept digging for your money," Ianto replied.

Jack ducked his head. "Listen, I like being a teacher." He sent John a glare when he snorted. "I really do. If you knew how much we work I'm putting into that test-"

"It doesn't matter," Ianto interrupted him bitterly. "I don't believe you." He steeled his resolve. "I shouldn't be surprised. I was rather naïve in believing that someone like you would actually care about teaching or about other people. All you care about is yourself. That's the only thing your tiny brain can comprehend. To think that I actually believed you're more than the pathetic, uneducated, tough guy image you're projecting – turns out it's all you can be." He turned to walk towards the stairs.

"Ianto," Jack said, grabbing his arm.

Ianto whirled around and pushed him away. "Don't touch me!" He took a step back … but didn't encounter the floor. He slipped on the edge of the first step leading down to the ground floor, trying to grab the rail to prevent falling. Jack and John both lunged forward to catch him but they were too late.

The last thing Ianto heard was Jack calling his name.


	14. Chapter 14

**14.**

Jack stumbled when Ianto tripped over the threshold, instinctively tightening his hold around Ianto's waist to keep him from falling.

The lounge was the better option. Jack wasn't in the mood to drag Ianto all the way up to his own room. The early-morning light was illuminating the lounge. The tests Ianto had corrected the evening before were lying discarded on the coffee table. It didn't look like anybody else had been here in the meantime. Then again, it was Saturday and Owen and Mica were probably still asleep.

Ianto tripped again. "Oops!" He giggled.

"Wonderful," Jack muttered, righting himself and dropping Ianto onto the couch.

"Oh my God," Mica said, entering the room. She was still in her pyjamas, her long dark hair unruly. "What happened?"

"He fell down some stairs," Jack answered, taking his jacket off while Ianto proceeded to bury underneath the blankets piled at one end of the couch, muttering the word "clutz" every now and again.

Jack sighed heavily. "And on our way home from the hospital, we found out that he doesn't exactly respond well to pain medication."

"You …," Ianto said, peering at Jack. "You steal things."

"Yeah," Jack interrupted him quickly. "Right." He looked at Mica. "Give him a few hours to sleep it off and he will be right as rain."

"Stole my trust and my …" Ianto frowned. "Uh … paper thing."

Mica glared at Jack. "We don't have a few hours! Youth welfare services are coming here in an hour to do the evaluation and they are already skeptical 'cause he had depression when he was young and took medication."

"Medication," Ianto said with a nod. "I was sad. 'Cause nobody liked me. 'Cause I'm a clutz." He looked up at Jack blearily. "You don't like me. You said you did. But you don't. Or you wouldn't have stopped kissing me."

Mica wiped her eyes. "I'm going to have to go to a foster family! Thank you very much, Uncle Ianto!" With that, she stormed off.

Ianto looked after her and then at Jack. "You are very tall."

Jack rolled his eyes.

xxx

A lorry must have hit him. There was no way Ianto would feel this bad for no reason.

He groaned.

Faintly, he remembered Jack and money and John and stairs … and the hospital.

"Oh God," he muttered. "Two criminals in a room with me and I get hurt through my own fault?" he asked nobody in particular. He blinked when the shrill laughter of a woman echoed through the house and into his bedroom.

And then he _really_ remembered.

The youth welfare services lady was supposed to be here! One look at the clock showed him that she must have arrived half an hour ago.

"No, no, no," he muttered and stumbled out of bed and, noticing with relief that he was fully dressed. He limped to the door, pulling a face at the pain in his hip, and pulled it open to hear more laughter from downstairs.

He made it down the stairs as fast as possible … and stopped at the sight that met him in the kitchen.

"Mr. Harkness," Donna Noble said loudly, slapping at Jack playfully. "Stop with the cream already. I need to watch my figure!" Miss Noble was a tall, resolute woman who always wore her hair in a tight bun and had an acidic wit that had Ianto cringe. Now, she was sitting at the kitchen table with Jack and Mica as if they were old friends, her hair open and her expression one of giddy excitement.

That wasn't the oddest thing in the room, though.

Jack was wearing pressed trousers and a polo shirt and looked like the kind of man that was normally printed on the front pages of cheap romance novels. He was smiling widely, his blue eyes sparkling. "If somebody can afford it, then it's you, Miss Noble," he said, adding cream to her plate. There was cake on the table, Mica looked as representable as a boarding school student, and the house was spotless.

Ianto stared.

"Please, call me Donna," she said and the icy woman Ianto had got to know when he'd applied to take Mica in for good seemed to melt in Jack's presence.

"Only if you call me Jack."

Ianto cleared his throat. "Uh … hi!" he said awkwardly and stepped forward into the Twilight Zone.

"Uncle Ianto," Mica said, smiling sweetly, "are you feeling better?"

"Mr. Jones," Miss Noble said, getting up and shaking his hand. "Your partner already told me that you had a bad fall at school. Please sit down."

Jack pulled out a chair and guided Ianto to sit with a gentle hand on his back.

Ianto nodded dumbly. "I'm a clutz," he said and was served cake with cream by Jack who fussed with Ianto's plate a bit and then poured coffee. Lastly, he took Ianto's chin and planted a firm kiss on his lips before dropping into his own chair.

Ianto licked his lips, cursing himself for the weak moment one second later.

"You held out on me," Miss Noble said and Ianto turned back to her. "You didn't tell me that you were in a relationship." She started taking notes. "I admit I was extremely sceptical about you taking in a child at your age and with your career just starting out, but I think your sister would be very happy with what you achieved."

Mica grinned widely. "Yes, we all get along so well. Me, Uncle Jack and Uncle Ianto. And of course Owen."

Ianto stared at her, wondering if he'd seen her smile that brightly since her family's death.

"So, tell me," Miss Noble said, "how long have you been together?"

Ianto cleared his throat. "Actually-"

"About one year," Jack interrupted him. "Got to know each other on the internet and I took a job at his school to be close to him. It went from there." He smiled at Ianto and Ianto couldn't help but smile back at the open affection on Jack's face … before he reminded himself sternly that it was just a show. He would play along, could see that Jack was obviously trying to make up for what had happened, but it was just that: an act.

Miss Noble looked at them as if she was looking at a newborn kitten. "I have to say, Mr. Jones, I'm infatuated with your partner. If we ever look for role models concerning alternative families, we will look you two up." She winked at him.

xxx

"Thank you," Ianto said when Jack had closed the door on Miss Noble.

"Jesus," Jack replied, burying his hands in his pockets. "Did it hurt to say that?"

Ianto frowned. "Can you maybe just appreciate that I'm grateful?"

"No need to be grateful," Jack answered. "A stupid low-life like me can be grateful that you even took me in after all. Seems like I owe you a thousand times more than this."

Ianto shook his head. "I didn't say it like that."

Jack stepped closer, staring directly into Ianto's eyes. "Yeah, well, you came pretty close."

Ianto answered his gaze steadily, reminding himself that he was the victim here. Jack had lied to him, had actually been committing a crime behind everyone's back in all the time he'd been at the school … Ianto squared his shoulders. "You have no right to talk to me like that. You're the one who robbed a bank."

"I did my time."

"It doesn't matter!" Ianto snapped. "You're a criminal." He could see that he'd hurt Jack and part of him wanted to backtrack and apologise, but he couldn't. Jack's lies had struck something deep inside: a scar that hadn't quite healed over yet and that was now opened anew.

Jack stepped back, his face going stony and his eyes cold. "You know what's funny?" he asked. "You thought me not all that smart all along and you didn't like my manners or the way I talk … but given half the chance, you would have let me fuck you. Funny how I was good enough for that."

Ianto felt tears gather in his eyes. "Leave," he said.

"With pleasure," Jack replied and went upstairs, the door to his room slamming shut. Ianto went to his own room and sat on the bed, shakily trying to breathe through the nausea raging through his stomach.

He didn't hear Mica come in. He only realised she was there when she put her arms around him. Ianto returned the embrace and held on.

xxx

It had started to rain a while ago, the glass of the window to Gwen's room slick with water, the street lamps orange blotches. The mobile in Jack's hand felt heavy and he put it down with a sigh, hating himself for actually giving in and trying to call Ianto to … apologise maybe. He didn't know what he would have said if Ianto had picked up.

It turned out that he shouldn't have worried about it: Ianto had been ignoring him for the last 24 hours or so, not picking up any of the three rings Jack had given him.

Gwen entered from the bathroom only wearing a bra and panties, her wet hair hanging down on her shoulders. She looked gorgeous … and Jack felt absolutely nothing in reaction.

Sadly, as if she knew, Gwen smiled at him and wrapped herself into a robe Jack had given her a few Christmases back. "You liked him, didn't you?"

Jack stared out the window of her room, his arms crossed.

"I liked him, too." She wrapped her arms around him. "You could go to him, you know. Apologise."

"He wouldn't want to hear it," Jack said.

"How would you know?"

"I do."

"Jack-"

"Because I called him, okay, and he didn't pick up the phone!" Jack shook her off and walked towards the bed where he'd deposited the bag with the money. "I never called anyone before to apologise." The rejection stung but he could understand Ianto, in a way.

Gwen sighed. "What's your plan now?"

"I don't know. I don't want to go the airport. I have no idea whether he called the police."

"Oh, Jack," Gwen said, hugging him and then kissing his lips firmly. "I'm so sorry."

He returned the embrace, tucking his face into her hair to breathe in, encountering a scent so familiar to him that he calmed a bit. "Yeah," he muttered, "me too."

xxx

Ianto stared at his mobile. It was vibrating against the kitchen table where he and Owen sat, correcting tests. Jack's name was flashing on the display. Owen gave him a strange look, probably wondering again whether Jack really only left to see family up north. Ianto knew he quite possibly hadn't fooled Owen for even a minute, but thankfully, he didn't seem inclined to push for the truth at the moment.

The mobile stopped vibrating and quiet returned to the kitchen.

Owen cleared his throat. "You're not going to call him back?"

"No," Ianto answered.

Owen shrugged and went back to his tests. Ianto tried to focus on his work as well but he couldn't. He still wasn't sure whether he should call the police on Jack. Somebody would have to pay for repairing the tunnel and it seemed right, somehow, to report what he'd seen.

On the other hand, though, he didn't quite know if he should after what Jack had done for him and Mica.

And he hated himself for it.


	15. Chapter 15

**15.**

When Ianto entered the school grounds, he saw Tosh standing with Bernie and Carys, agitatedly talking to them while they hung their heads in shame. The moment she saw Ianto, she waved him over. "Ianto, can you believe it? These two idiots actually dug a tunnel underneath our school!"

Ianto stared at her. "What? No, I can assure you-"

"We were looking for Nazi gold," Bernie said, interrupting Ianto with a firm stare. Carys was looking at him beseechingly as well, her face pleading.

"Nazi gold," Tosh said in disbelief. "In Wales?!"

Carys shrugged. "They invaded, didn't they?"

Tosh huffed a breath and put her hands on her hips. "I can't believe it."

Bernie crossed his arms. "Well, we weren't wrong."

Tosh handed Ianto a bag and now he recognised it as the one Jack and John had been going through the night before. The one with the money. His heart skipped a beat. "Where did you get this?" he asked, his fingers brushing over the damaged nylon and leather.

Tosh scoffed. "By some pure stroke of luck, the two went digging for Nazi gold and found a bag full of British pounds." She glared at the students. "Which we will use of course to repair the damage." She looked at Ianto. "Where's Jack?"

"He won't come," Ianto said, pressing the bag against his chest.

Tosh's eyes widened. "What?"

"He won't come. I think he's feeling sick."

Tosh massaged her forehead, breathing a deep sigh. "Well, it's your class for the day then." With that, she grabbed the bag out of Ianto's hands and left.

Ianto waited until she was a safe distance away, then he glared at the teenagers. "Where did you get the money?"

Bernie shrugged. "Mr. Harkness waited for us at the corner this morning. Gave it to us. Said there was damage in the basement."

"He asked you to take the blame?" Ianto asked, incredulous.

"No!" Carys answered. "He only said to put the money next to the tunnel for someone to find."

Bernie scuffed his sneakers against the asphalt, seeming almost embarrassed when he added, "We knew he'd get the blame if he didn't come in today, though. He would never be allowed to come back."

"We want him back," Carys finished.

Ianto stared at them, swallowed. Then the fight went out of him and he let his shoulders slump. "Well, he won't be back."

Carys bit her lip. "Why not?"

"It's complicated."

Bernie cursed softly. "He dug that tunnel, yeah? 'Cos he's a bank robber and this was what he last robbed."

"How did you-"

"Internet," Carys said. "It was easy, really. Jonah did some digging, he's a class A hacker. Almost got into the Parliament once."

Bernie nodded. "We wanted to blackmail Mr. Harkness, but then he was so cool."

Ianto closed his eyes. "I didn't need to hear all of that." He sighed and looked at the both of them, putting his hands on their shoulders. "He left and he's not coming back, and what he did in that basement is exactly what he was supposed to teach you is wrong. Believe me, it's for the better he's gone."

Carys looked close to tears. "But you were cute together."

"And he understood us," Bernie added. "Had real street credit. Even though he's a poof."

Ianto glared at him.

"Sorry," Bernie muttered.

"It doesn't matter," Ianto said. "Let's go inside. You've got that test today, yeah? Hopefully, he prepared you for that."

xxx

"Okay, everyone," Ianto said loudly when he entered the room. He paused when he noticed that it was silent, the 10b looking at him expectantly already. "Okay," Ianto repeated and set his bag on the desk with a smile. "We're going to kick off today with an English Lit test. The topic is _Romeo & Juliet_." He'd found the test in his letterbox this morning, no note or explanation. He took as what it was – a goodbye. "I hope you practised spelling Shakespeare's name."

The students chuckled. When Ianto gave the test to Annie who started to hand it out, he noticed a piece of paper on her table. It was folded in the middle and had the word _Why_ written on it. "What's that?"

"My motivation card," Annie said.

Ianto frowned quizzically. "Your what?"

"Mr. Harkness showed them to us. It's pictures of the people we want to make proud, or the things we want to achieve."

Ianto swallowed, a knot settling into his belly. "Like what?"

They all held their motivation pictures up for Ianto to see. While Bernie's showed the picture of a garage advertising to fix old-timers, Annie had a picture of ballet dancers, Carys a picture of a university degree, Jonah had one of himself and a man who seemed to be his older brother …

Jonah said, "Mr. Harkness has one, too."

Ianto suppressed the impulse to ask where it was or to inquire whether they knew what was on it. Instead, he cleared his throat, trying to convince himself he was just touched by how easily Jack had connected to these kids and that it had changed them for the better. It wasn't about Ianto's feelings. Only the students.

Always the students.

He took a deep breath. "Okay, you can keep the pictures on your tables. Start with the test, yeah?" He went back to his desk and settled into the chair, stunned.

The students started to work quietly and with a focus that had been unheard of in this room until about two weeks ago. Then Carys raised her hand.

"Yes?" Ianto asked.

"It's in the desk, top drawer," she said and then focused on her test again.

Ianto swallowed. He couldn't stop himself. He slid open the drawer slowly.

A folded sheet of paper with the word _Why_ scribbled on it was lying there. He took it out and opened it, staring at a picture of himself when he'd still been going to school.

"Fuck," he muttered.

"Ha!" Bernie yelled gleefully. "You used the f-word!"

Ianto glared at him but before he could answer, the door opened and Gwen strode in, earning herself wolf whistles from some of the boys in the room for the hot pants and the tight, low-cut top.

"Hey!" Ianto said, pointing a finger at the group in general in reprimand. "Quiet!" He shook his head at Gwen and motioned her outside, leaving the door half-open to keep an eye on the class, even though he had the feeling it wasn't necessary. "You shouldn't be here," he said.

Gwen whirled around to him. "I've known him for fifteen years," she said angrily, "and he's a stubborn, proud son of a bitch. He never called a girlfriend or a boyfriend after things ended. Never. Where do you get off ignoring him?"

"Well, he lied to me for starters," Ianto answered, just as angry. Rory walked past, staring at Gwen. She gave him a smile and a wink. Ianto urged him onwards with a glare and waited until he was out of ear-shot before he hissed, "He's a criminal."

"He's a good bloke," Gwen said, putting her hands on her hips. "So he messed up – he did his time for that. He was trying to clear his act even before he came here and he really wanted to do it when he got close to you. I thought you were so big on giving second chances."

Ianto ducked his head, feeling like the wind had been taking out of his sail. "What does it matter now?"

"It matters because he gave you the money from the tunnel. It matters because he's got no reserves, nowhere to go and a persuasive friend who enjoys the thrill of a bank robbery a bit too much."

Alarmed, Ianto stepped closer to her. "What are you saying?"

Gwen looked close to tears. "He's going to do it again. They both are. Jack and John. Today."

"Oh shit!" Ianto said, fumbling for his phone.

"He wouldn't listen to me. But he might listen to you."

Ianto nodded at her, even though he wasn't quite so sure. The dial tone seemed to go on forever, then voicemail picked up.

"No," Ianto said and hung up. He looked at Gwen. "Where are they?"

"I don't know."

Ianto dialled again. "Pick up," he muttered. "Please." The call went to voicemail again. Ianto swallowed. "What do we do?"


	16. Chapter 16

**16.**

Jack stared at his mobile, the voice message blinking on his screen insistently. He turned away from it, looking out the car window to the bank on the opposite side of the street instead.

"Hey!" John said, nudging him with his elbow. "I'm glad you decided to regain your sanity after all."

Jack looked at him and at the water pistol he was holding. "Only this job," he said, feeling like he had to clarify this again. "And then nothing."

"Okay," John said, grinning. "This one and then California."

Jack nodded slowly and looked down at his mobile again.

"What's the matter?" John asked.

Jack sighed. "Voicemail."

John frowned. "I thought you switched it off."

"Yeah, and then I switched it on again," Jack answered, irritated.

John looked at him as if he didn't quite know what to think. "You want to listen to it?"

Jack looked at the screen for a long moment, then he huffed a breath and threw the mobile on the backseat. "No." He took his own water pistol when the money transport turned the corner. "Let's do this."

"Yeah," John replied with a smirk and a dangerous spark in his blue eyes. "Let's."

That was when somebody knocked on the window and they both jerked around, automatically trying to hide the water pistols. Jack frowned when a boy waved at him, barely recognising him from Ianto's Year 7 – Robin. "Hello, Mr. Harkness!" he called through the glass, two of his friends waving just as eagerly. Out of all the streets the kids could have gone to ...

John cursed. "What the hell?"

"Shut up, let me handle this," Jack answered and opened the door to talk to the kids. "What are you doing here?"

Robin grinned at him in excitement. "We wanted to buy alcohol for tonight's party."

Jack remembered Ianto mentioning something about a party for the younger students. Ianto had been invited as well and Jack had made jokes and how much he seemed to enjoy the idea of being considered worthy enough to be invited. Ianto had blushed.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Alcohol?" he asked. "You're way too young for that."

"We know," Robin said. "We thought, you know … since we saw you being here ..."

Jack's eyes widened. "I'm not buying alcohol for you. Mr. Jones will freak."

"But it's for him," Robin answered quickly. "We want to make him drunk so that he isn't sad anymore."

One of his friends nodded. "Please, Mr. Harkness, just once do something forbidden."

John nudged Jack's shoulder insistently. "Hey, our window's closing."

Jack ignored him. "Mr. Jones is sad?"

Robin nodded. "My brother is in the 10b. He says it's because you quit. Why did you quit?"

John nudged him again, harder. "Jack."

He stared at the kids and then looked at the money transport … the sick feeling in his stomach intensified. He'd never felt this way before committing a crime, as if he was doing something he would regret. He closed his eyes, breathing in deeply … and then made his decision.

He grabbed his mobile from the backseat. "I didn't quit," he told the kids. "And I'll buy it, but you won't get your sticky little fingers on the bottle." He got out of the car.

"Hey!" John said. "Jack, what the fuck?"

Jack glared at him. "Mind your language, there are kids here, you wanker!" He slammed the door shut and strode away, the kids following in his wake, chatting about the upcoming party excitedly. Jack didn't really listen. His heart was beating loud enough that it reverberated through his ears and he felt slightly dizzy … he felt happy. It was a strange feeling, one he encountered not often enough.

Robin's little hand sliding against Jack's palm pulled him back to the present and he looked down, surprised.

Robin smiled up at him. Jack found himself smiling back.

xxx

Ianto stared at his mobile, willing it to ring. He'd given up on calling Jack, knowing by now that he wasn't picking up for whatever reason. But maybe he would call back, maybe he would have doubts and look for advice … maybe … Ianto closed his eyes and put his head in his hands, rubbing them down his face tiredly before he turned his head to look at the darkened yard. He would have to go to the Year 7 party soon and he didn't look forward to it. It meant leaving the house and pretending everything was all right when it really wasn't ...

The clapping of the letter box pulled him out of his thoughts. He wanted to ignore it but in the end found himself going to check it out anyway. It was way too late for post to arrive.

A single white envelope lay on the floor at the door. Ianto frowned and picked it up, opening it carefully. There was one sheet of paper in it and when he unfolded it, it didn't say much, but it didn't have to. He'd waited for this letter since he was thirteen and as simple as it was, it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever read.

 _Do you want to go out with me?_

 _Yes_

 _No_

 _Maybe_

Ianto swallowed.

"So?" somebody asked and Ianto looked up at Jack standing in the lounge door. He must have come in through the half-opened porch door. He looked tired and insecure, his blue eyes dull.

Ianto cleared his throat, clenching his fingers around the letter to stop his hands from shaking. "That depends," he answered slowly. "Did you rob the bank?"

"No," Jack said, coming closer.

Ianto suppressed a smile. "A shame," he whispered. "I like them dangerous."

Jack grinned. He held out a hand and, as soon as Ianto took it, pulled him close for a gentle, unhurried kiss. His thumb brushed Ianto's cheek and Ianto could feel him smile still against his lips, even when he deepened the kiss and wrapped his arms around him.

"Ugh!" Mica said, peering down at them from the first floor. She was smiling. "Teacher sex."

xxx

They had been called to Tosh's office the second they'd entered school grounds the next morning and were now sitting across from her. Tosh had been looking at them with a carefully guarded expression for the last two minutes or so and Jack had the feeling that he was going to get arrested. It was possible that they'd found out about the tunnel and the origin of the money and the fact that Jack had been faking his degree ...

Tosh interrupted Jack's wildly spinning thoughts by calmly asking, "What the bloody hell have you done?"

Jack swallowed and glanced at Ianto, who looked oddly pale. "Tosh," he said. "I can explain-"

"What did you do to those students?" Tosh asked, slapping a pile of paper on her desk. Even upside down, Jack recognised the English test on Shakespeare. "I never before cried while looking through tests," Tosh said. "But this is ..." She shook her head.

Whatever Ianto had been about to say, Jack interrupted him quickly. "It was my idea."

"None of them," Tosh said as if he hadn't spoken, "failed."

Jack stared at her, wondering whether he'd misheard.

Ianto asked, "None of them?"

"None of them."

"And Bernie?"

" _None_ of them."

Jack cleared his throat. "I thought the students would understand the story better if we'd speak about newer versions of _Romeo & Juliet_."

"Your test has only one question and it's stating that the students should pick one modern version of the _Romeo & Juliet_ story, show the relationship to the original and then explain the story and interpret it."

Jack grinned despite himself. "Yeah, I felt like a right geek writing that."

"We have _Westside Story, Avatar, Titanic_ , even _Star Wars_ and _Doctor Who_. The students' insights vary in originality and depth, but all of them are good."

Ianto smiled at Jack and took his hand, squeezing gently.

"Additionally," Tosh said, "they started to participate in other courses as well. Rory isn't even taking his asthma spray anymore when he has biology with them." She smiled at Jack. "So, let's talk business. If only two thirds of the 10b manage to get their GCSEs, it will have consequences for our budget. I want a canteen, I want copiers and I damn well want smartboards because I hate chalk fingers. Jack, you'll get a fixed position here."

Jack's smile dimmed and he shifted in his chair. "Thing is, I didn't actually get a degree. I'm not really a teacher."

Tosh leaned back in her chair, folding her hand in her lap. "I fail to see the problem, since you apparently faked it well enough to fool me."

"I didn't even finish school," Jack admitted.

"Hm," Tosh said. Her resolute expression melted away to a secretive smile that brightened her strict face into quite a pretty one. "I won't tell anyone if you don't."

Ianto's eyes widened. "What?" he asked. Jack grinned widely at him but Ianto shook his head. "No … that's … cheating."

"Ianto," Tosh answered, "us teachers get messed with every single day. Let's mess with them right back for once."

xxx

"This doesn't mean you get off the hook," Ianto warned. Jack put an arm around him while they walked down the corridor towards the school yard. Recess had just started and the students were milling in the corridors. They got out of the way, though, when Jack and Ianto approached, smiling and waving at Jack. Ianto recaptured his attention by nudging him into the side. "You will go to school in the evenings and read all the books on teaching that I'll give you … without complaining."

Jack grinned and shook his head. "But not knowing is the key to my success."

"That's not funny," Ianto said. "It went well this time but it could go wrong the next and I don't want them to find out that you're not a teacher." He leaned closer to Jack, stopping him in his tracks to look at him earnestly. "You could go to prison."

"Stop worrying," Jack said, kissing Ianto's lips firmly. "Teachers love me." With that, he slapped Ianto's arse and sauntered off.

Ianto blushed. "Hey!" he called after Jack, "I was serious, though!"

Jack didn't react.

"Jack!" Ianto called. "Jack, I'm talking to you!"

"Mr. Harkness," the students around him echoed, "he's talking to you!"

Jack turned around and winked.

09/15

END


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